TSA airport screeners are getting a raise to almost $60K plus benefits

COLONIE — Transportation Security Administration officials are hoping that a recent pay raise for security screeners will expand the applicant pool at Albany International and other airports.

Thanks to an increase in the recently passed federal budget full-time screeners who come on board in July can earn $58,563 in two years, plus retirement, 401(k)-style match and health care benefits — a 28 percent increase from starting compensation.

“We want to hire as many as we can get,” said Bart Johnson, the former State Police colonel who now heads the TSA in New York outside of New York City.

People hired this winter would be ready to work for the busy summer travel season, said Johnson.

At Albany International Airport, informational recruitment tables will be inside the terminal on the ground floor near the information desk every Thursday from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The TSA also is participating in SUNY Schenectady College and Career Outreach Center and the Department of Labor's annual job fair slated for Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The job fair is located in the arcade area on the first floor of Center City, 433 State St., Schenectady.

TSA jobs can be full- or part-time. Getting started entails a four-week training program at the airport as well as two weeks at a law enforcement training center in Georgia.

After that, there is on-the-job training with a mentor, leading to certification after about five or six months.

Starting salary is $37,753 annually for individuals hired before July. That will increase a month later in Albany to $38,650.

Once a TSA officer has been working at Albany for one year beyond July 1, 2023, the annual salary jumps to $47,878 and after two years from their hire date it escalates again to $58,563 per year.

Another plus: Officers also can apply to other federal security jobs from the TSA, such as those at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.