The hidden joke behind "privatization" is that it is NOT really private. SFO has a TSA FSD, TSA staff, and TSA screening managers. The private contractor has supervisors, leads and screeners who are hired under the exact same standards as TSA screeners, have to follow the exact same SOP, have to undergo the exact same annual recertification tests, are subject to the exact same Red Team inspections and have to send the exact same PMIS reports to TSA headquarters. The only real "difference" is that the workforce itself is not on the TSA payroll, and even that is misleading because the federal government still pays a portion of those costs. In essence, there's really no such thing as privatized screening under the ATSA. What it really is, is an outsourcing of the screener workforce itself. And, as I said, the first ones most likely to be hired would be the current crop of TSA screeners for the reasons I stated.

The "privatization experiment" wasn't under sterile lab conditions; it was a stacked deck. The so-called "differences" between TSA and the five "private" airports are very very minimal. To cite any successes is like saying a football team won a scrimmage game. Ain't quite the same thing.