"We look forward to developing a working relationship with Trinity and to continuing our relationship with Covenant, which has been providing screening services at Tupelo under the SPP pilot program," said Larry Rowlett, Federal Security Director (FSD) for Tupelo, Jackson-Evers International, and the other federalized airports throughout Mississippi.
TSA awarded the contract for security screening services for passenger checkpoint and checked baggage operations from vendors that submitted proposals and are among the 11 private small business screening companies identified on TSA's Qualified Vendor's List (QVL) of 34 eligible companies. The total contract award value, including options, is approximately $3.054 million. The total period of performance is four-and-a-half years, which will start on May 11, 2006 and end on September 30, 2010 (if all options are exercised). Under SPP, the FSD will remain responsible for overseeing TSA security standards and managing contractor performance.
SPP is designed to meet the requirement for the "opt-out" program established in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 (ATSA). Since November 19, 2004, airport operators have been allowed to apply to TSA to have screening functions performed by qualified private screening contractors through SPP. Beginning in 2002, ATSA required TSA to conduct a contract screening pilot program (known as the "PP5") at five airports to evaluate the performance of private screeners relative to federal screeners.
Under ATSA, the pilot program ended on November 19, 2004, but TSA issued short bridge contracts to the original PP5 contractors to allow TSA time to develop the rules for applying for the SPP, the acquisition process, the QVL and the Requests For Proposals for the new contracts. All the original PP5 airports [San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Greater Rochester International (N.Y.), Jackson Hole (Wyo.), and Tupelo Regional] and one federalized airport at Sioux Falls, S.D. applied to have qualified contractors perform screening functions. Contracts for Sioux Falls, Jackson Hole, and Kansas City have been awarded. Over the next few months, TSA plans to complete the procurement process for the final two PP5 airports.
