Four years after Congress forced the Federal Government to get rid of private security companies to run airport security it looks as though it has had a change of mind.

Yesterday Congress agreed to give airports legal protection if they get rid of federal screeners and replace them with private companies. The agreement was reached by a bipartisan committee of House and Senate negotiators after the lawsuit protection was included in the final version of the Homeland Security Department’s 2006 spending bill.
Until now, dozens of airports have refused to switch to private security screeners because they feared being named in lawsuits that might arise from a terror incident. Supporters of the motion said that private companies can deploy screeners more efficiently and quickly than the Federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA), but some aviation experts are already saying that the move is purely financial and will weaken security by cutting costs to increase profits.