Aviation Security: Transportation Security Administration Could Further Improve Officer Engagement
Fast Facts
TSA's nearly 50,000 officers play an important role in keeping potentially dangerous items off airplanes.
But TSA officers' engagement—their sense of purpose on the job—has historically ranked among the lowest across the federal government. Employees who feel engaged tend to be more innovative, productive, and committed in their jobs.
TSA has taken steps to address key drivers of officer dissatisfaction, such as by setting up programs to reward performance. However, it hasn't fully addressed those drivers, nor identified the root causes of officer dissatisfaction in areas like communication and work-life balance.
We recommended that TSA do so.
TSA Employee Engagement Index Scores, 2017–2023
Highlights
What GAO Found
Leadership of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has identified the need to improve employee engagement—their sense of purpose in their job—as central to the agency's security mission. According to the Office of Personnel Management, engaged employees are more innovative, productive, and committed in their jobs, and thus less likely to leave. GAO found that five key drivers affect the engagement of TSA's Transportation Security Officers (TSO), who comprise the majority of TSA employees.
TSA has taken actions to address all five key drivers. However, challenges related to each persist. For example, to address TSO concerns with managing and recognizing performance, TSA began requiring supervisors to take a 1-hour performance management course in 2018. In 2021, it set up two programs to reward top performance. However, these actions did not fully address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction—namely, inconsistent management of TSOs' performance. By identifying and implementing actions that fully address the root causes of the driver, TSA will be better able to improve engagement. Further, TSA has not identified root causes of TSO dissatisfaction for three other drivers—career development, work-life balance, and communication. Without doing so, TSA will have difficulty implementing effective corrective actions that address the specific challenges for each of the drivers.
Transportation Security Officers Gather for a Shift Briefing
For the final driver—demonstrating responsiveness to input—TSA has solicited TSO input on the root causes of low engagement at airports through a survey and other initiatives. However, TSA has not tracked follow-through on these initiatives. By tracking and monitoring follow-through on planned steps, TSA would be better able to ensure implementation and realize the desired effect of improving TSO engagement.
Why GAO Did This Study
TSA employs almost 50,000 TSOs who screen passengers and their baggage at U.S. airports. TSA employees' engagement has historically ranked among the lowest within the Department of Homeland Security and across the federal government.
GAO was asked to review the factors that affect TSO engagement and TSA's actions to improve it. This report examines (1) the key drivers that affect engagement and (2) the extent to which TSA has taken actions to address them.
GAO analyzed the Office of Personnel Management's Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results from 2020 through 2023, reviewed agency guidance and documentation on TSA's actions to improve engagement, and interviewed human capital officials. GAO interviewed a nongeneralizable sample of TSOs, their supervisors, and senior leaders at five airports selected to capture variation in levels of employee engagement. GAO also interviewed five employee groups, including the union that represents TSOs.
Recommendations
GAO is making nine recommendations, including that TSA analyze the root causes of key drivers of low TSO engagement, such as opportunities for career development and work-life balance, and identify and implement actions to address them. DHS concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction the agency has identified with how TSA manages and recognizes performance. (Recommendation 1) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter that it would take steps to address it. In August 2024, TSA reported plans to solicit feedback on employees' perceptions of the quality of their performance discussions during the prior year's performance cycle, fiscal year 2024, and use this information to identify root causes of dissatisfaction. In addition, TSA said that it had updated a required training course in February 2024 that teaches supervisors how to provide feedback that is specific, objective, timely, and balanced. These planned steps could help TSA collect additional information on TSO dissatisfaction and enhance supervisory training. To fully address the recommendation, TSA will need to demonstrate that they have used the feedback collected, the training provided, or have taken other steps to address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should conduct an analysis to identify the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with their opportunities for career development. (Recommendation 2) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA reported plans to use airports' submitted Local Action Plans to identify root causes on a national level. In August 2024, TSA reported that it was reviewing airports' local action plans from 2023 and using this information to conduct a root cause analysis. While the plans could provide useful information for TSA's root cause analysis, it will not provide the complete information TSA needs to obtain quality results if TSA reimplements its Local Action Planning process and analysis carried out in recent years. To fully address our recommendations, TSA's root cause analysis would need to include root causes beyond the control of local airport leadership and better ensure that the local action planning process and subsequent analysis results in underlying root causes rather than problem statements or topics.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with their opportunities for career development. (Recommendation 3) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA reported plans to identify and implement actions to address the root causes of TSO satisfaction it identified, as appropriate. In August 2024, TSA also reported that it had made available to its workforce on-demand and e-learning classes related to career development and conducted a series of resume and interview development workshops in August 2023. To fully address the recommendation, TSA will need to demonstrate the training and workshops provided, or other actions it implements, address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should conduct an analysis to identify the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with TSA support for their work-life balance. (Recommendation 4) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA reported plans to use airports' submitted Local Action Plans to identify root causes on a national level. In August 2024, TSA reported that it was reviewing airports' local action plans from 2023 and using this information to conduct a root cause analysis. While the plans could provide useful information for TSA's root cause analysis, it will not provide the complete information TSA needs to obtain quality results if TSA reimplements its Local Action Planning process and analysis carried out in recent years. To fully address our recommendations, TSA's root cause analysis would need to include root causes beyond the control of local airport leadership and better ensure that the local action planning process and subsequent analysis results in underlying root causes rather than problem statements or topics.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with TSA support for their work-life balance. (Recommendation 5) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA reported plans to identify and implement actions to address the root causes of TSO satisfaction it identified, as appropriate, while noting that TSA's mission limits its ability to provide its workforce with flexible schedules. In August 2024, TSA reported that a new collective bargaining agreement became effective in May 2024, which included benefits for bargaining unit employees such as enhanced shift trade options. However, this collective bargaining agreement was ended in March 2025. To fully address the recommendation, TSA will need to demonstrate that its actions address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should track and monitor airport leadership progress implementing the three actions identified in each airport Local Action Plan to ensure the plans are implemented. (Recommendation 6) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. DHS noted that a two-year action planning process was already in place that requires each airport receiving a Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) report to submit an action plan to Human Capital. In July 2024, TSA officials provided documentation of a tracker it had developed to help ensure that Local Action Plans are submitted and implemented as intended. TSA officials also confirmed that all required airports submitted a Local Action Plan based on their fiscal year 2023 FEVS results by March 2024, to which TSA reviewed and provided feedback. Further, TSA officials said that airports are to provide mid-cycle updates to TSA headquarters describing their progress in implementing their Local Action Plans. TSA officials also said they plan to review a sample (20 percent) of these mid-cycle updates to help ensure compliance. In April 2024 TSA officials told us that because of recent Executive Orders, the Office of Personnel Management's delay of the 2025 FEVS, and changes to senior TSA leadership, TSA has paused the deadline for submitting action plan mid-cycle updates. TSA officials said that they will reevaluate the action planning process in August 2025 and provide updates to GAO accordingly. These actions, if implemented as intended and sustained over time, could address the intent of our recommendation.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should track and monitor whether employees and supervisors discuss the results from Leadership for Engagement Surveys and use those results to inform the development and implementation of individual action plans. (Recommendation 7) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA developed a process for coordinators to document whether discussions of the leadership survey results have occurred, including any reasons why discussions did not occur. In June 2024, TSA developed a tracker in TSA's online learning center for documenting discussion dates. In March 2025, TSA provided its workforce the requirements and process for using the new tracker. Specifically, TSA created job aids, recorded a demonstration of how to use the tracker, and made this recording available to its workforce. These actions, if implemented as intended and sustained over time, could address the intent of our recommendation.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should conduct an analysis to identify the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with communication from management. (Recommendation 8) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA reported plans to use airports' submitted Local Action Plans to identify root causes on a national level. In August 2024, TSA reported that it was reviewing airports' local action plans from 2023 and using this information to conduct a root cause analysis. While the plans could provide useful information for TSA's root cause analysis, it will not provide the complete information TSA needs to obtain quality results if TSA reimplements its Local Action Planning process and analysis carried out in recent years. To fully address our recommendations, TSA's root cause analysis would need to include root causes beyond the control of local airport leadership and better ensure that the local action planning process and subsequent analysis results in underlying root causes rather than problem statements or topics.
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| Transportation Security Administration | The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with communication from management. (Recommendation 9) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it. Specifically, TSA reported plans to identify and implement actions to address the root causes of TSO satisfaction it identified, as appropriate. TSA reported that in May 2024 it participated in a DHS headquarters initiative, which included agency town halls. In addition, TSA hosted calls with Supervisory and Lead TSOs, and continues to hold biweekly engagement activities, according to TSA officials. To fully address the recommendation, TSA will need to demonstrate that these, or other actions it implements, address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction.
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