The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said on August 24 that an “evolved” Screening Partnership Program (SPP) will replace the previously announced Gold+ initiative.
The Gold+ program was developed to enable participating airports to tailor security systems for their facility and avoid the personnel shortages that affected airports across the USA during the government shutdown. It intended to pair SPP with TSA’s innovation authorities to enable cutting-edge aviation security solutions.
However, critics said it could open up an airport’s most crucial operations to private vendors that may not have the same level of internal security as TSA. In addition, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) looked to sue TSA over the program.
TSA says its new strategy, dubbed ‘Horizon 25’ in line with the agency’s 25th anniversary, will accelerate public-private partnerships with industry across sectors to expand modernization across the agency.
Announcing the change, new TSA administrator David P. Cummins defined three primary goals for his tenure: modernize TSA’s checkpoints, elevate the traveler experience and harden multimodal transportation security.
Cummins will bring together innovators from across the agency, including field and headquarters personnel, in September.
Related news: Government workers union looks to sue TSA over Gold+ program
