Phoenix airport mulling use of contractor instead of TSA

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix's busiest airport could cut ties with the TSA in the wake of a baggage-screening system breakdown that caused travelers a massive luggage delay, city officials said Friday.

Deborah Ostreicher, the city's assistant aviation director, said Thursday's chaos at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was the latest in a growing list of frustrations with the Transportation Security Administration.

A network switch failed and caused the software system that scans luggage for explosives to go into a continual reboot cycle, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told reporters Friday at National Airport in Washington, D.C. He said the system breakdown in Phoenix was an isolated incident.

Greg Puriski, president of TWU Local 555 which represents 11,000 airport ground crew workers employed by Southwest, said baggage handlers at Sky Harbor would be working overtime again Friday to help push through delayed luggage.

According to the TSA, the baggage systems handle the bulk of checked luggage.

After being placed on a conveyor belt, checked luggage goes through a high-tech scanning machine programmed to look for explosives or other prohibited items.