GBTA Pleased By TSA Administrator Neffenger’s Efforts to Right the Ship

GBTA issued the release below today on TSA Administrator Neffenger’s testimony. You can find our release from earlier this summer urging TSA to conduct a top-to-bottom review here.

Today, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator Peter Neffenger testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform providing his vision for the evolving agency in response to a an inspector general investigation of TSA showing security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports. He outlined the top-to-bottom review conducted, how TSA developed and implemented an immediate action plan following the report and a renewed focus on the fundamentals of security to strike a new balance between security effectiveness and line efficiency.

The following statement can be attributed to Michael W. McCormick, GBTA Executive Director and COO:

“In the wake of this summer’s report that raised major red flags about whether TSA was doing enough to protect traveler safety and security through airports, GBTA called on TSA to act with urgency to conduct a comprehensive overview of TSA operations, to fulfill its mission to optimize both passenger security and efficient passenger processing and to immediately end the process of managed inclusion as only fully vetted passengers should qualify for PreCheck benefits.

GBTA is pleased with TSA chief Neffenger’s efforts to right the ship and believes TSA is moving in a positive direction. The full review conducted, the end of managed inclusion and the renewed focus to strike a new balance between security effectiveness and line efficiency, while still pursuing a risk-based security approach are the right steps to take.

More than 40 million business trips, most of which require air travel, occur each month. Passenger facilitation is vital to business travel, which supports 8 million jobs. By making these changes to TSA operations, it not only ensures air travel is safe and efficient, but that as a nation we are working together to prevent breakdowns that could devastate the nation’s economy.”