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AirportImprovement.com      July | August 2026
SECURITY 
PGD | SFO
“Our passengers are happier. Our employees are happier,” 
Parish reports about PGD. “In fact, we went from numerous 
complaints to almost none. We get compliments almost daily 
about how great our TSA is because the passengers do not know 
the difference.”
Cheong says SFO monitors customer satisfaction closely in 
quarterly surveys and has added employee training to improve 
checkpoint interactions. Covenant ensures its employees 
participate in the airport’s supplementary training by paying for 
their time.
“The workforce is better trained as a result of those efforts,” 
Cheong says. “We actually have one screener that has gotten internal 
and external awards because of how many compliments he gets.” 
Aviation Security Management puts a similar emphasis on 
training at PGD. When the airport invited a group of people with 
disabilities to an orientation session to help make their future air 
travel more comfortable, the screening contractor paid all of its 
employees to participate. 
Operational changes have translated into measurable gains in 
throughput for both airports.
Checkpoint wait times at PGD dropped from up to 45 minutes 
to under 10 minutes on average after the airport privatized 
screening. “Our peak times are 6 to 8 a.m., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 
5 to 7 p.m.,” Laroche says. “We don’t see 
delays during these peak times.” 
SFO has had a similar experience. “We 
process over 2 million passengers in 30 days, 
with an average peak wait time of under 
10 minutes,” says Doug Yakel, SFO Public 
Information Officer.
Added Resilience 
One of the most visible advantages to privatized screening emerged 
during the recent federal government shutdowns. Screening 
operations at SFO, PGD and other SPP locations continued without 
disruption in stark contrast to the delays experienced at federally 
staffed airports.
Stable staffing can be maintained during government 
shutdowns because SPP screening operations are funded by 
existing federal contracts and screeners continue to get paid. In 
contrast, federally employed TSA officers do not get paid until the 
government resumes operations.
DOUG YAKEL

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