WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite all the grumbling about those federal security screeners, airports are not rushing to replace them with private workers.
Only two airports - in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Elko, Nev. - have applied to the government to switch back to privately employed screeners. And the management at Elko is having second thoughts.
Advocates of private screeners had predicted that dozens of airports would jump at the chance to make the switch, saying the bureaucracy inherent in a government agency - the Transportation Security Administration - slowed staffing decisions at the country's 450 commercial airports.
However, officials at various airports say they are concerned about potential lawsuits: People might sue an airport where private screeners failed to prevent terrorists from launching an attack.
