If Your Airport Goes SPP: What TSA Officers Need to Know About Severance Pay

This Is Not a Hypothetical

The Trump administration's FY2027 budget proposal, released April 3, 2026, would require all category III and IV airports to enroll in the Screening Partnership Program and eliminate an estimated 4,528 federal TSO positions through the shift to private contractors. TSA's own budget justification documents state that the reduction in TSO compensation and benefits reflects the decreased need for federal screening personnel at these airports. The Office of Management and Budget described the proposal plainly: it "begins the privatization of TSA's airport screeners."

Congress must act for this proposal to take effect. Against Giants is not presenting this as a certainty. We are presenting it as a policy direction that is real, documented, and moving. If this budget is funded, airports fitting the category III and IV profile could see conversions beginning as early as 2027.

Officers at those airports deserve to understand their rights before any action is announced, not after. This article explains what a conversion means, what severance pay eligibility looks like under current TSA policy, and what officers should do right now to protect themselves.

What an SPP Conversion Actually Triggers

When an airport transitions from federalized TSA staffing to a Screening Partnership Program contractor, the federal TSO positions at that airport are eliminated. Under TSA HCM Policy 351-2, Transportation Security Officer Involuntary Workforce Reduction Procedures, that action constitutes an involuntary workforce reduction. The policy explicitly identifies "complete or partial de-Federalization, for example under the Screening Partnership Program" as a covered action triggering these procedures.

That procedural designation matters. It is what connects a conversion to severance pay eligibility under TSA MD 1100.55-4. Without that designation, officers have no clear path to the protections the policy provides. With it, the framework is specific and documented.

The Three Paths

An officer at a converting airport faces three possible outcomes. Each carries materially different consequences.

The first is involuntary separation with severance pay, if TSA cannot make a qualifying offer within the officer's commuting area. The second is reassignment to another federalized airport, if a qualifying position exists and TSA extends a proper written offer. The third is accepting employment directly with the incoming SPP contractor.

Severance Eligibility: The Core Requirements

Under TSA MD 1100.55-4, Severance Pay, an officer is eligible for severance pay when three conditions are met. They must hold a qualifying appointment, meaning a permanent appointment. They must have completed at least 12 months of continuous federal civilian service. And they must be involuntarily separated for reasons other than inefficiency, defined under the policy as unacceptable performance or conduct.

An SPP conversion processed as a workforce reduction under HCM 351-2 satisfies the involuntary separation requirement. The central variable determining whether that eligibility is preserved or forfeited is whether TSA makes what the policy defines as a reasonable offer.

The Reasonable Offer: Read Every Word

TSA MD 1100.55-4, Section A(13) defines a reasonable offer with precision. All four of the following conditions must be met simultaneously.

The offer must be made in writing, at the same time as or after the officer receives a written separation notice. The officer must meet the established qualification and eligibility requirements for the offered position. The position must be within the officer's commuting area, unless geographic mobility is a documented condition of employment. And the position must be at the same appointment type and work schedule, and not more than two pay bands below the officer's current band of record.

For officers at smaller regional airports with no other federalized TSA airport within realistic daily commuting distance, TSA may be unable to construct a qualifying offer at all. In that case, the separation is unambiguously involuntary and full severance eligibility attaches without condition.

How the Payout Is Calculated

The formula is drawn directly from TSA MD 1100.55-4, Section E. Officers can run this calculation themselves using two numbers from their most recent SF-50: their adjusted pay rate, found in the compensation block, and their federal service computation date, found in Block 31.

Adjusted pay means basic pay plus locality pay before any deductions, at the rate in effect at the time of separation.

For each full year of creditable federal civilian service through 10 years, multiply one week of adjusted pay by the number of those years. For each full year of creditable service beyond 10 years, multiply two weeks of adjusted pay by that number. For any remaining full quarter-year beyond the final full year, add 25 percent of the applicable weekly rate.

Officers over the age of 40 are entitled to an age adjustment allowance. Multiply the basic severance total by 2.5 percent for each full three-month period of age beyond 40. An officer who is 52 years old has 48 full quarters of age, 12 of which are beyond 40, producing a 30 percent addition to the basic total.

The combined figure is then subject to a lifetime cap of 52 weeks of adjusted pay. Any severance previously received from prior federal employment counts against that cap. If the adjusted total exceeds the cap, the cap applies. If it falls below the cap, the officer receives the full adjusted amount.

This Is Not a Lump Sum

This is one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of federal severance pay, and it matters for financial planning.

Under MD 1100.55-4, Section D(2), severance is not paid as a lump sum at separation. It is paid on TSA's normal biweekly schedule, at a rate equal to two weeks of adjusted pay per payment period, continuing until the fund is exhausted. An officer should plan for severance as a continuing income stream that mirrors their regular salary interval, not as a cash payment on the last day of employment.

The Funding Lapse Risk

This is a wrinkle that emerged during the FY2026 DHS funding lapses and belongs in any honest discussion of severance pay. During the 2025 government shutdown, federal employees at other agencies who had already separated and were actively receiving severance payments found those payments frozen for the duration of the lapse. At least one agency notified affected former employees that payments had been stopped retroactive to the beginning of the appropriations gap. TSA is subject to the same appropriations constraints as those agencies. While no TSA-specific precedent exists on this point, the risk is real and documented across the federal system.

MD 1100.55-4 Section D(4) does provide a calculation protection: severance is computed at the rate the officer would have received had they been in pay status at separation, even if a funding lapse placed them in non-pay status at the time. That provision protects the amount owed. It does not guarantee the timing of payment during a future lapse.

Officers separating during or near a period of appropriations uncertainty should treat severance as a legally owed but potentially delayed income stream, and plan accordingly.

When Payments Stop

Under MD 1100.55-4, Section I, severance payments terminate when the officer becomes reemployed by the federal government in a permanent position. If that happens, any remaining balance in the severance fund is forfeited.

Temporary federal employment is treated differently. Under Section H, payments are suspended during a non-qualifying time-limited appointment but resume after that appointment ends. The remaining entitlement is preserved.

Officers considering temporary federal employment while receiving severance should verify the appointment type before accepting.

What Officers Should Do Right Now

Pull your most recent SF-50. Confirm your adjusted pay rate and your federal service computation date in Block 31. Those two numbers plus your age are everything needed to estimate your severance fund before any conversion is announced. Officers with prior federal service should verify how much of the 52-week lifetime cap has already been used before assuming the full fund applies to their situation.

Document your commuting area. If TSA makes an offer, the commuting area determination is the first condition that must be evaluated. Know in advance what falls within your realistic daily travel distance from your current duty station.

Do not respond to any offer, written or verbal, without reviewing it against all four reasonable offer criteria under MD 1100.55-4. Do not accept a contractor position without understanding what federal benefits and protections you are leaving behind.

Contact Against Giants if you receive a separation notice, a reassignment offer, or any communication indicating your position may be affected by a workforce reduction or SPP conversion. We are here before the decision, not just after.