NEWBURGH — Officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) commemorated the 20th anniversary of the federalization of New York Stewart International Airport on Saturday.
Stewart launched under TSA security oversight 20 years ago this past weekend, on November 12, 2002, when the security checkpoint was first staffed by federal TSA officers a little more than one year after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act 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 the 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 60 employees who are assigned to work at Stewart. Ten members of the TSA workforce have been working at Stewart since the airport was federalized.
