Image: CNN

20 US airports don’t have TSA. Passengers there are not seeing long lines

21 March, 2026.USA.1 sources

Key Takeaways

Twenty U.S. airports use private contractors for security screening under TSA’s Screening Partnership Program.
Checkpoints run by private firms report no long lines at these airports.
Examples include San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Orlando Sanford, and seventeen smaller airports.

Privatized screening overview

At 20 airports in the United States, security screening is handled not by the Transportation Security Administration, but by private companies — and their checkpoints aren’t seeing long lines.

“At 20 airports in the United States, security screening is handled not by the Transportation Security Administration, but by private companies — and their checkpoints aren’t seeing long lines”

CNN

Major delays during shutdown

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have both seen wait times exceed two hours this week, as more than a third of TSA employees at each airport didn’t show up to work.

Private screeners unaffected

Yet, the logjam has not impacted screeners who work for private companies.

CNN

Payroll status at privatized airports

"All operations at the privatized airports are normal because we continue paying our employees during the shutdown," said Nat Carmack of BOS Security, which screens passengers at Tupelo Regional Airport in Mississippi.

"Our employees have never missed a paycheck during any of the government shutdowns."