Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, speaks at a press conference Wednesday. Along with Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, right, the senator called on the Transportation Security Administration to close a loophole in airport security by tightening screening procedures for airport employees. (Paige Leskin/MNS)
WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration needs tougher security procedures and screenings for airport workers following the December discovery of an airport gun smuggling ring, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday.
Along with Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, Schumer said airport employees working inside security areas, like gate areas and food courts, as well as on-the-ground airline employees, should be required to go through the same kind of physical screenings that airline passengers and on-board employees go through. Currently, airport employees are only subject to background checks and regular threat assessments, which are not enough, Schumer said at a press conference.
The announcement followed the December arrest of a Delta Airlines employee and four others who were charged with smuggling more than 150 firearms from Atlanta to New York over the last eight months. The airline employee was able to transfer the guns without going through security to a plane passenger, who could then bring the firearms on board in his luggage, Thompson said.
Although the Brooklyn DA’s office was able to arrest five men in its investigation, it exposed the bigger problem in nationwide airport security, Schumer said. The security loophole makes it a “cake walk” for people to smuggle unauthorized objects onto planes, the senator said.
“When guns, drugs and even explosives are as easy to carry on to an airplane as a neck pillow, we have to seriously and immediately overhaul our airport security process,” Schumer said.
Each U.S. airport has a unique security plan, but all must follow TSA requirements. A “simple security change” would strengthen security while still allowing each airport wiggle room to adjust physical screenings to the best fit for its layout and design, Schumer said.
“All it takes is one errant airport employee to perpetrate an act of terror on an airplane. This clearly must change,” Schumer said. “In this day and age, we can’t be too careful.”
The TSA and its parent, the Department of Homeland Security, have to take further measures to prevent terrorism, Schumer said. The senator said he is considering introducing legislation to increase airport security and has received bipartisan support for the idea.
Schumer sent a letter to the TSA, but the agency has not yet indicated that it plans to go beyond background checks for airport securities, Schumer said.
“We think that the case that we brought highlights an urgent need here. We have to move quickly,” Thompson said. “We think that this problem is at other major airports across the country.” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will travel Thursday to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where the gun smuggling ring originated, to convene with TSA and airport officials, a spokeswoman said in a statement.
The meeting will be used to assess and address the problems that may exist in security procedures of airport workers in secure areas, she said.
John Pistole stepped down as TSA director at the end of 2014 and an acting administrator is in his place until the agency names a new director. When the Senate votes on the nomination, Schumer said, he will take into account the person’s stance on physical screenings for airport employees.
The press conference fell on the same day as a terrorist attack at the headquarters of a magazine in Paris, an incident that both Schumer and Thompson referred to at the press conference.
The shooting shows that terrorist attacks are not an isolated issue in the U.S. and that the smuggling of guns is not only present at select airports, Thompson said.
