Few Criminal Background Checks are run at Airports

• By Matt Holden
• Feb 04, 2015

After it was discovered that airport employees access airplanes and tarmacs without undergoing daily security screening, officials have admitted that no one checks criminal backgrounds after workers are hired.

"It's fair to say that once an employee survives an initial background check ... which gives them access to the airport ... they don't go back and check criminal history?" asked Rep. John Katko, R-New York, chairman of a House Homeland Security subcommittee.

"That is correct from my knowledge," said Gary Perdue, the FBI's deputy assistant director of counterterrorism.

This discussion came from a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security, where lawmakers questioned current regulations guiding airport security. This comes after a gun smuggling operation was discovered in December, where a baggage handler allegedly brought guns to work, entered the gate area and passed weapons onto a passenger who had already gone through security.

The Miami airport is the only known major airport in the country to require employees to pass through metal detectors as well as conduct random criminal background checks after hiring employees.