TSA awards baggage screening contract to Boeing
The Transportation Security Administration Friday awarded a contract to Boeing Service Company to oversee the deployment of up to 1,100 explosive detection machines in every U. S. airport.
The award was expected months ago, but internal disputes among TSA officials over the influence of the agency's new acquisition division stalled the final award, according to sources familiar with the contract negotiations.
Boeing will direct the installation of all the explosive scanners, as well as the installation of 4,800 to 6,000 explosive trace-detection machines, which are smaller and less expensive than the full-screening machines. The full-screening machines use radiation to see inside passenger luggage and can detect specific explosives.
The company will oversee regular maintenance of the devices and will provide training for the 21,500 federal baggage screeners who will operate the machines, according to a TSA statement. Boeing has employed more than a dozen other firms as subcontractors.
"This issue is a very high priority for the Bush administration and for the Department of Transportation," said John Magaw, Transportation's undersecretary for security. "We continue to work toward meeting the mandates of [new security laws]."
The 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act signed by President Bush in November requires TSA to be searching every piece of luggage by Dec. 31, but the agency has said for the past several months that it would be unable to meet that deadline without using a combination of trace-detection and scanning equipment.
Only two firms, L-3 Communications of New York and InVision Technologies of Newark, Calif., currently meet Federal Aviation Administration standards for the manufacture of explosive-detection systems for luggage. Working at full capacity, company officials have said both firms could produce only 90 units a month.
TSA also announced Friday that federal employees would begin screening baggage at airports in Louisville, Ky. and Mobile, Ala., by June 25. Federal employees have already begun screening baggage at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.