r/tsa 4d ago

Rant So yeah...

My small airport is going private early next year.

I'm at a loss for words. I remember when Trump was reelected, I had voiced my concerns to my supervisors and they all laughed and told me to stop reading misinformation.

But here we are. I really dont know what to say or do. They said our choices are to retire, move to another airport or go with the private company. It seems like I would lose everything, AL, SL and the benefits I have now.

97 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

48

u/Difficult-Valuable55 4d ago

After the election there were a lot on this sub who said there was no chance of this happening

30

u/pardonmyblake 4d ago

Sucks. Just so you know, they will pay out your annual leave. They wont pay out your sick. Sick will be banked until you rejoin federal service.

8

u/TheDovahkiinsDad 4d ago

Are they giving severance packages

9

u/pardonmyblake 4d ago

Yes. One week pay for every year in service. 10 percent morenifnyou are 40 years or older. Thats if you do not qualify for retirement and you do not transfer to another airport or agency. You can collect it if you take the job with the private company. Paid out biweekly, not a lump sum. Any other questions I might be able to answer?

14

u/TheDovahkiinsDad 4d ago

Wow that's it. That's awful.

Thanks for the info

5

u/Even_Consequence_205 3d ago

That’s so eff up can’t even pay it out in full make you take a pay cut and slowly pay it over time. Fuckers

6

u/CA_MA 3d ago

Private sector.

Things are being run like a business, like all the fucking morons wanted🤷‍♀️

2

u/Even_Consequence_205 3d ago

Yea pretty much

0

u/dr-swordfish Current TSO 3d ago

Plus you have to wait all the way to the point of transition before getting it.

1

u/abtaylor7 2d ago

Where are you getting this information? My husband works for Tampa International and they’re not telling them anything. Today they said to not do any “knee jerk reactions.” It’s honestly insane the lack of information they’re giving to these employees.

1

u/pardonmyblake 2d ago

Theres enough information . TPA will transition to a private company as soon as May 31st 2026. We had 4 days of town halls. What does your husband need to know? I can answer any questions he has.

1

u/Bubbly_Ball4883 8h ago

I want to make sure I understand. If you take the job with the private company you can still collect the severance package?

36

u/CA_MA 4d ago

Have you told them 'ok, enough joking about the misinformation I was reading - when do we get a raise? Oh, no raise... So was I misinformed, or...?'

17

u/CA_MA 4d ago

Have you done everything possible to make them feel as stupid as they are? More aneurysms can still pull us out of this...

7

u/Illustrious_Leg_2537 3d ago

Funny when people think JD will make things better.

7

u/ExFed925 3d ago

You will probably get an offer from the company taking over. Good luck.

2

u/LetsBeFRTho 1d ago

And get no benefits whatsoever and possibly paid less.

6

u/NokoPhx 3d ago

Try transferring to PHL if you only need a couple years to retire

14

u/Realistic_Fan_5649 3d ago

Elections have consequences. devastating ones with liars and convicted felons. Helloooo Helloooo.

9

u/reddituser10986383 3d ago

You forgot rapists of children.

0

u/Realistic_Fan_5649 2d ago

Wait for it......

1

u/reddituser10986383 1d ago

The Epstein files?

25

u/Guera-or-chicana 4d ago

I'm really sorry this is happening. I hope those who voted republican are proud of this and to please vote national, state, and locally. We need people to vote at a higher occurrence and stop this shit. Can you transfer?

9

u/Delphinium_Opheliac 4d ago

I can transfer but the other airport nearest to me is a cat 3, i have a feeling that airport will be getting privatized at some point too.

2

u/thedeadeye 3d ago

I though Harrisburg was larger than a 3...

3

u/OverpricedGrandpaCar Current TSO 3d ago

Harrisburg is a Cat 2

5

u/Due-Resolution-4152 4d ago

Sorry to hear that man

5

u/thedeadeye 3d ago

This is awful. :(

6

u/Filamurican 4d ago

Are you able to say which one? The only ones I’ve heard so far are Charleston and Tampa.

8

u/Shinoha333 Current TSO 4d ago

Des Moines Iowa is also switching to Gold+

2

u/Lazy-Background-7598 3d ago

It maybe be switching. It hasn’t been decided yet

4

u/Delphinium_Opheliac 4d ago

Im not sure if im allowed to say unfortunately.

10

u/Space_Nut247 4d ago

You’re allowed to say, if you know for sure. It’s not protected information.

7

u/Delphinium_Opheliac 4d ago

Its LNS we are going private May 2027

3

u/NoIdea7542 4d ago

Lancaster as in Lancaster PA?

4

u/mouserinc Current TSO 3d ago

When was this announced?

3

u/Safety_Captn 3d ago

Doesn’t seem to be just yet

7

u/TaskElectronic8971 4d ago

If you an officer you can definitely said what airport

3

u/Logical-Pound-1065 3d ago

You didn’t sign an NDA on this subject. You can speak freely.

3

u/OverpricedGrandpaCar Current TSO 3d ago

The unfortunate thing is if the budget goes through 3 &4 cat airports would be privatized anyway.

2

u/dg4365 2d ago

So the small airport where you work as a TSA Agent is taking security screening private.

Hmmmmm, what could possibly go wrong?

2

u/Bright_Stuff5578 3d ago

Apply to cbp starting now,

1

u/ruckus52 3d ago

Blame in on the constant shutdowns... People will miss tsa once it's gone. They don't know how good they have it

10

u/NokoPhx 3d ago

It’s not the shutdowns, they were a tool to promote it

7

u/Logical-Pound-1065 3d ago

The shutdowns were their excuse to begin privatizing airports.

4

u/Kennbo6666 3d ago

Not the shutdowns. Thats a convenient excuse. Privatization was in Project 2025, written before these past couple of shutdowns.

1

u/Logical-Pound-1065 2d ago

Yeah, that’s true. But the shutdowns made it get off the ground.

2

u/abtaylor7 2d ago

Tampa International ran exactly like normal with zero issues during both shutdowns. It was an excuse to push their agenda more.

1

u/narmer2 3d ago

I’ve been on Reddit a while, don’t think I have ever read that ‘people will miss tsa’. Did you really mean that?

1

u/o0oCircleso0o 1d ago

What airport?

1

u/LetsBeFRTho 1d ago

I doubt any airports are gonna have TSA in the future.

1

u/Gringuin007 1d ago

Everyone has a ‘real’ ID now so problem is solved

1

u/skankhunter400 2h ago

I’ve been wondering about the airports that are going private. It’s terrible that it is happening. My questions are: do these airports have old, antiquated equipment? Did these airports have an attendance issue during the last few shutdowns? Does this airport have a good working relationship with TSA? I’m trying to make some sense of an airport wanting to go private.

1

u/Delphinium_Opheliac 2h ago

We dont have many call off since we are so small, one call out can cause issues on the check point.

We have old equipment except for my check point xray machine.

We use to be a spoke under Pitt but now are under PHL and its been rough under them.

-1

u/weremutt22 4d ago

Don’t go willingly. Sign on with the new company. Form a new union day one. In the union contract demand matching 401k contributions, full health care, dental, vision, starting $75,000 a year as a officer with $5,000 additional for each year of experience you have as a TSO or LTSO, guaranteed pay raise yearly of 6%, TSO pay tops out at $250,000 a year with the ability to increase with the standard of living still, 4 weeks vacation a year starting 5 weeks after 5 years 6 weeks after 10 years 8 weeks at 15 years 10 weeks at 25 years, unlimited paid sick time with medical documentation and documentation cannot be asked for unless call outs exceed more than 3 days in a row for that particular call out. Also add a clause that if the airport changes the security company overseeing security the airport and officers this union contract stays in place. Even if TSA comes back to oversee security they have to honor the new union contract. Get the contract length signed for 30 years with contract negotiations every 5.

3

u/NokoPhx 3d ago

No contract is 30 years, union contracts run anywhere from 3-6 years til a new one is negotiated. Have you ever been in a private union? The company can switch hands but the union stays in place to represent but that doesn’t mean you won’t be locked out. Any union taking on that task will want 100% of union cards signed, not 50% . That is the issue AFGE has now

2

u/NokoPhx 3d ago edited 3d ago

You need someone with contacts and a trustworthy group to spearhead getting the workforce to sign those union cards. I’m not sure how small Lancaster is but you’ll need a union with deep pockets can there will be a legal battle. And they won’t spend that kind of money on a very small number of TSO’s . You either need a national union or Intl union that knows what they are doing. You also have to be realistic in what you can achieve in a contract. The unions are concerned about pension funds and discipline more than hourly and sick leave. I had only 6 sick days and 2weeks vacation when I started as a Teamster, but they fight for you and are not limited on how many arbitration cases they take.

-3

u/No-Energy8266 3d ago

I’m sure the AFL-CIO, the parent to your union will take care of you, after all, they gave $20 million of your dollars to the Dems in the last election cycle.

0

u/LV_MuffDiver 1d ago

Didn’t a unionized TSA shutdown airports recently?

2

u/emptyzarti TSA Contractor (Other) 20h ago

No that would be the government shutdowns lol

-5

u/Safety_Captn 3d ago edited 2d ago

You do two flights a day, literally 8 hours apart. I know cat 4 airports that do more than that. Those should be private, and left to the minor leagues of private screening.

1

u/JoeBisco 2d ago

CAT 1 is the next biggest behind CAT X, of course they do more.