Airport screener woes continue

As expected, a government study found training problems for North American airport screeners.

Shortages of staff and high-speed internet connections are preventing thousands of security screeners from getting necessary training, said the Government Accountability Office (GA).

From the months of July to October, screeners at 75% of the 450 airports in the US didn’t get the three hours of weekly training required by the government.

Much training is missed because screeners on understaffed shifts are needed at checkpoints, which prevents them from taking time away from normal duties, said the GAO.

In addition, without high-speed internet connections, screeners are “severely limited” in tapping into the Transportation Security Administration’s online training programs.

Transportation officials had planned to have high-speed internet access at 350 airports by last year. But the agency now says it does not have the resources to meet that goal, said the GAO.

Previous government audits have linked insufficient training to screeners’ failure to find weapons carried by undercover agents testing the system.

Said the GAO:

“Weaknesses and vulnerabilities continue to exist. Comprehensive and frequent training is key to a screener’s ability to detect.”

Report by David Wilkening