Hours-long security lines have snarled airports from New York to Texas as unpaid TSA agents call out en masse during the partial government shutdown — but some are largely insulated from the chaos.
Twenty airports across the US participate in the Transportation Security Administration’s Screening Partnership Program (SPP), created in 2004, that uses contract screeners rather than federally employed TSA agents.
Airports like San Francisco’s SFO that rely on private screeners are showing themselves to be more insulated from the government shutdowns that have staggered travel in the US for the second time in four months.
Travelers may not notice the difference at the checkpoint, but contract security officers follow the same training, procedures, and oversight as the roughly 50,000 agents employed by the TSA.
And, unlike their TSA counterparts, contract screener pay isn’t paused during the partial shutdown because it is pre-funded via federal contracts.
TSA agents received their first $0 paycheck over the weekend and won’t be paid until Congress reaches a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. DHS funding lapsed on February 14 amid a political impasse over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
More than 300 TSA agents have left the agency since the shutdown started; others have simply stopped showing up for work. Airports like New Orleans, Houston Hobby, Atlanta, and New York-JFK have seen TSA lines up to 3 hours amid mass call-outs.
“Private security is really beneficial, especially at smaller airports where it’s easy for TSA agents to get overwhelmed if just one calls out sick when there were only two to begin with,” Sally French, a travel analyst at NerdWallet, told Business Insider.
Here’s the list of US airports with private security where travelers shouldn’t have to worry about staffing-related security delays:
- Atlantic City International Airport (New Jersey)
- Charles M. Schulz—Sonoma County Airport (California)
- Dawson Community Airport (Montana)
- Great Falls International Airport (Montana)
- Glacier Park International Airport (Montana)
- Greater Rochester International Airport (New York)
- Havre City-County Airport (Montana)
- Kansas City International Airport (Missouri)
- L. M. Clayton Airport (Montana)
- Orlando Sanford International Airport (Florida)
- Portsmouth International Airport (New Hampshire)
- Punta Gorda Airport (Florida)
- Roswell International Air Center (New Mexico)
- San Francisco International Airport (California)
- Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (Florida)
- Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (Montana)
- Sioux Falls Regional Airport (South Dakota)
- Tupelo Regional Airport (Mississippi)
- Wokal Field/Glasgow International Airport (Montana)
- Yellowstone Airport (Montana)
While most SPP airports are tiny with limited commercial operations, two on the list — San Francisco (SFO) and Kansas City (MCI) — host several airlines and screen thousands of passengers a day.
Security wait times at SFO — the largest program participant — remain normal thanks to private screeners from Covenant Aviation Security, one of the 27 TSA-approved contract security companies.
“We have not seen any excessive line waits during this period,” an airport spokesperson told Business Insider.
Kansas City airport contracts a security company called VMD Corp.
A spokesperson told Business Insider the company cannot contractually discuss efficiency data, but said operations at all of the airports it manages are “business as usual” despite the shutdown. VMD also operates in Orlando Sanford, Rochester, Atlantic City, and across Montana.
Orlando International Airport — where TSA agents are performing the same duties as private screeners at nearby Orlando Sanford but aren’t being paid — has seen longer-than-usual security lines due to TSA call-outs during peak spring break travel to attractions like Disney World and Universal Studios.
BOS Security, another TSA-approved contractor, said in a July 2025 post that private screening is advantageous for airports and travelers because it’s cheaper, more efficient, and has lower turnover than federal screening, saving taxpayer dollars.
The company added that airports in Canada and most European countries use private screeners.
However, TSA union officials warned in a May 2025 blog post that switching security agents from federal to private could erode their pay and job protections and weaken security standards.
They also said that contracting several companies could create inconsistencies across airports, and that competition for contracts could pressure private operators to cut costs in areas such as training and staffing.
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