Billion Dollar Airport Security Waste

The U.S. Government has spent nearly $1 billion dollars on airport security equipment that doesn’t work, therefore preventing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents from doing their job of protecting the country. Examples include radios that lack enough frequency to cover the entire airport and malfunctioning closed-circuit televisions and telephones.

The government paid world-renowned information technology giant Unisys $834 million for the outdated and defective equipment and now the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General is recommending terminating the contract. The Inspector General issued the 44-page report detailing the outrageous problems with the equipment and service.

The Transportation Security Administration was created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and its mission supposedly is to protect the nation’s transportation systems. The agency, granted $1 billion to purchase the technology necessary to perform its job, has a history of well-documented problems.

Past findings from the Homeland Security Inspector General include TSA air marshals who slept on the job, excessive bonuses for agency managers and a $500,000 awards banquet for TSA employees that featured severely overpriced deserts and sodas.