Ditch the Transportation Security Administration.

That’s the advice of Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who will begin chairing the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in January. Mica made the suggestion in a letter to the country’s 100 busiest airports. Denver International is the fifth busiest and Colorado Springs is 87th.

City Councilman Sean Paige would like the council to consider Mica’s advice, and pitched his colleagues on the idea of asking airport aviation director Mark Earle for a briefing. The TSA has come under intense public scrutiny for new screening procedures considered too invasive. Expect the Thanksgiving travel rush to generate daily stories about passengers in tears after TSA grope searches.

Mica believes the TSA has become a bloated bureaucracy that has no built-in incentive to provide good customer service. Legislation that created the TSA specifically permits airports to opt for private security firms that contract with the TSA. The TSA hires, fires, oversees and fully funds private screening firms. The firms conduct screening procedures mandated by the TSA, so they must comply with all of the invasive procedures travelers hate.

Several large airports — including San Francisco International and Kansas City International — have used private security firms for years. Dozens of airports, including Orlando Sanford International, are giving serious consideration to booting the TSA in favor of privatization.

One strong argument in favor of going private is that private companies must compete for the affection of TSA officials and airport administrators by trying to maintain customer satisfaction. Orlando Sanford International CEO Larry Dale said he has been impressed by the private screeners he has witnessed in other airports. Federal TSA agents he has observed seem to show less concern for earning customer approval. He worries the TSA puts his airport and Orlando at a disadvantage by discouraging travel to the city. He thinks private firms would be kinder and more professional, in order to protect their contracts.

“Competition drives accountability, it drives efficiency, it drives a particular approach to your airport,” Dale told Channel 4 in Jacksonville, Fla.

In a letter to Earle, Paige said maintaining safety must be the top priority.

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“But we in Colorado Springs should also strive to do that in a way that respects the rights, the privacy and the dignity of those who use our airport,” Paige wrote. He would like Earle to answer eight questions, the most important being this: “Have there been passenger complaints, and, if so, what are they?”

If the answer is yes, and the scope of complaints worries Earle and other city officials, the council may want to give further consideration to Mica’s advice.

It’s likely most passengers are satisfied, as was the case when the Airport Advisory Commission looked into privatization in 2006. The Springs Airport handles about 1 million passengers each year. The airport is civilized and manageable. DIA handles 23 million customers each year. Anyone who uses both knows that TSA workers at DIA and other busy airports work in hurried chaos; in the Springs they work in relative tranquility. Helpful attitudes and friendly smiles seem the norm among TSA workers in the Springs.

If Earle and the advisory board report serious concerns with TSA, the council should study its options. If customers are pleased, the council should move along to other business. If the airport ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

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