TSA Gold+ shifts procurement model

TSA has published a new Gold+ page describing a public-private model that would expand the role private operators play in airport screening beyond staffing and into technology deployment. The agency says Gold+ will pair the existing Screening Partnership Program, or SPP, with TSA’s innovation authorities at select U.S. airports. (tsa.gov) Under the model, TSA says it will keep setting aviation security standards through outcome-based measures while “leading industry operators” manage both screening labor and technology under long-term arrangements. (tsa.gov) The proposal builds on SPP, the long-running program under which airports can apply to have screening carried out by private companies working under TSA contract and oversight. (tsa.gov) TSA says SPP launched in 2004 and now operates at 20 airports, with the federal security director remaining in charge of security, incident management and stakeholder relations. ### How is Gold+ different from the existing private-screening model? TSA says the current SPP structure uses private vendors to provide screening services, but those vendors must use TSA-provided screening technology and follow TSA standard operating procedures, policies and advanced imaging requirements. (tsa.gov) Gold+ goes further by redirecting funds into “investable partnerships” in which private operators can manage both technology and the screening workforce. The agency says the goal is to replace “lengthy technology procurement refresh cycles” with a faster model for deploying new checkpoint systems and curb-to-gate solutions. (tsa.gov) TSA also says airports that opt in would help design and inform requirements so solutions can be tailored to local operating needs and security priorities. ### What control does TSA say it keeps? TSA says Gold+ would still leave the agency in charge of setting security standards, using what it calls outcome-based measures to drive performance and security. On the existing SPP side, TSA says the federal security director remains in charge of security and incident management, and the contract screening company works for TSA, not the airport authority. (tsa.gov) A TSA FAQ on SPP says airport operators do not gain a new operational role over screening simply because they participate in the program. TSA says it monitors vendor performance under contract and requires vendors to comply with TSA procedures and directives. (tsa.gov) ### Why does procurement sit at the center of this change? TSA linked Gold+ to a broader push for private-sector modernization in congressional testimony on January 21, when senior official Ha Nguyen McNeill told the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency wanted upgraded technology, public-private partnerships and a more modern screening process. (tsa.gov) In a separate 2025 request for information, TSA said it was seeking turnkey checkpoint solutions that could improve security effectiveness, reduce labor needs and integrate advanced technologies with checkpoint design. That makes procurement central to Gold+ because the existing SPP model does not let private vendors bring their own screening equipment. (tsa.gov) TSA’s current fact sheet says private screening vendors “must use TSA-provided screening technologies and cannot use their own equipment.” Gold+ is the first TSA description located in this reporting that explicitly says industry operators could manage both technology and workforce together. ### Which companies and airports could participate? TSA says Gold+ is aimed at “select airports across the United States,” but the agency page reviewed for this story does not name any launch airports or vendors. (tsa.gov) Under the current SPP process, all federalized airports are eligible to apply, and interested airport operators submit applications to their local Federal Security Director. The current vendor pool is also limited. TSA says SPP task orders are awarded through an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract vehicle, and only companies that already hold an SPP IDIQ contract may submit proposals for task-order requirements. TSA says it added companies to that vehicle in 2015 and 2020 and does not anticipate further vendor additions at this time. (tsa.gov) ### What should readers watch next? TSA has not yet posted, in the materials reviewed for this story, a list of participating Gold+ airports, a procurement schedule or a formal rulemaking tied specifically to Gold+. The next public markers are likely to be airport opt-in announcements, task-order activity under the existing SPP contract structure, and any new TSA guidance explaining how Gold+ changes the current rule that private screening vendors use TSA-provided equipment. (tsa.gov 1) (tsa.gov 2)