Were Reportedly Invloved In A Bribery Scheme at Philadelphia International Airport

TSA has announced it plans to fire seven employees related to a bribery scandal that involved at least 10 TSA employees at Philadelphia International Airport.

In a news release, House Transportation Committee chair John Mica (R-FL) said “There’s a TSA disaster every week, and the security meltdown gets more and more outrageous. Who knows what’s coming next. If you thought the meltdowns in New York, Newark, Palm Beach, Honolulu, Charlotte, Los Angeles and Fort Myers were bad enough, now we have Philadelphia.”

USA Today reports that court records indicate former training supervisor Shanon Gilliam was sentenced June 7th after pleading guilty to demanding $1,000 from co-workers to take certification tests. Ten workers were removed from their duties when the scandal was first uncovered in November of last year, and three have since resigned. TSA has notified the other seven that they will be terminated.

"TSA holds all of its employees to the highest standards of conduct and accountability," said Chris McLaughlin, assistant TSA administrator for security operations. "The decision to remove these employees affirms our strong commitment to our vital security mission and the safety of the traveling public."

Mica said that TSA reforms signed into law in February can’t come soon enough. "Transitioning to private security operations under federal standards and supervision will get TSA out of the HR business and back into the security business. This will allow TSA to refocus its attention on security, analyzing intelligence, and setting the highest risk-based security standards.
 
“Earlier this week, TSA granted the first application under the new reforms to allow an airport to convert to the private-federal screening model. We will bring onboard the other 400-plus U.S. airports that still operate under the Soviet-style all-federal screening model."

FMI: www.tsa.gov, http://trasnportation.house.gov