BUFFALO, N.Y.— Officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will mark the 20th anniversary of the federalization of Buffalo-Niagara International Airport (BUF) airport on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Buffalo-Niagara International Airport launched under TSA security oversight 20 years ago, on Sept. 24, 2002, when the security checkpoint was first staffed by federal TSA officers one year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) became law in November 2001, formally establishing the TSA. That fall, TSA consisted of about 100 people working at folding tables in the basement of Department of Transportation national office. Today, 20 years later, there are 430 federalized airports and a workforce of about 60,000 employees nationwide. TSA has a staff of approximately 210 employees who are assigned to work at Buffalo. Thirty-seven members of the TSA workforce have been working at Buffalo since the airport was federalized.
“The Transportation Security Administration here at Buffalo was created 20 years ago, after the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to ensure that one federal agency oversaw all terrorist prevention efforts,” said Bart R. Johnson, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Buffalo-Niagara International Airport and 12 other airports situated across the state. “The mission of the TSA, which is executed by a professional staff, is to protect our nation’s transportation system by outmatching the ongoing security threats that have evolved since September 11, and continues today.”
From the initial federalization as a TSA airport 20 years ago until the present day, the “TSA team here at Buffalo-Niagara has kept pace with this evolving threat by being well trained and utilizing state-of-the-art equipment to detect the threat and prevent another terrorist attack from occurring,” Johnson said.
“I consider myself to be very fortunate to work with such a dedicated group of TSA employees. We are also fortunate to have forged such strong partnerships with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), the airlines and the NFTA Police Department, which has further strengthened and improved our security posture,” Johnson said.
In the intervening years since launching, TSA has developed and implemented strong security procedures, built a well-trained and highly skilled professional workforce, and introduced a wide array of state-of-the-art technologies to screen passengers, baggage and cargo.
Guided by an intelligence-based approach, today TSA is at the forefront of security technology and innovation. Technologies such as computed tomography, credential authentication technology and advanced imaging technology have greatly improved TSA’s detection and identity verification capabilities in ways the initial group of TSA employees could have only imagined 20 years ago.