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Does this mean the airports experiencing a crippling loss of federal personnel could simply hire them onto their own payroll (the same people, even)? In such a case, all airports could keep functioning independent of government aid -- theoretically, anyway.

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That is how the entire system use to operate:

> Prior to September 11, 2001, airport screening was provided in the U.S. by private companies contracted by the airline or airport.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_security_repercussions...

Leaving our airport infrastructure dependent on the dysfunctional federal government was another downside to the nationalization of most of airport security.

I'd prefer it to be this way. Airports could hire their own screeners, set their own rules, and they wouldn't be as affected by this shutdown. I think it'd be interesting to have airports do the same thing with air traffic controllers, with both airlines and airports kicking in equal amounts of money to employ and train them.

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