The new chief of the Transportation Security Administration, David Pekoske, picked up on many themes of his predecessor in stressing industry collaboration and taking a risked-based approach when he made his first address before the Aero Club of Washington, but he also emphasized a need for expediency and long-term capital planning.
Pekoske was sworn in as the seventh TSA Administrator in August, succeeding Peter Neffenger. In his speech to the Aero Club on Friday, Pekoske credited partnership with industry in helping to deploy key security technologies rapidly. “The support we’ve had from industry has just been tremendous,” he said.
Describing the evolving nature of security threats, Pekoske said the agency must remain agile. To be successful, regulators and industry “must understand each other’s environments,” he said.
Pekoske views the TSA’s role as establishing what security outcomes are necessary and then working in partnership with industry and other government and local agencies on how to achieve those outcomes.
He outlined a vision for deploying new screening technologies, but said his goal is to establish a long-term capital investment plan that outlines the goals and tradeoffs of spending. Not having such a plan, he said, “makes it harder when the agency goes through a budget process.”
The TSA further is working on a long-term strategy, outlining goals over the next five to seven years. This strategy should be formed in collaboration with industry, Pekoske added.
At the same time, he stressed the need to move forward expeditiously, speeding up the decision-making process, saying he does not like to “take a long time to get to a decision.”