Argenbright Security gets extension at O'Hare

CHICAGO - Argenbright Security Inc. has been replaced at about 25 U.S. airports, but it&#39;s still in place at O&#39;Hare International Airport. <br> <br> The new Transportation Security Administration authorized the airlines to grant a second extension to Argenbright at O&#39;Hare&#39;s United Airlines terminal and at four other airports after failing to meet its Monday goal of replacing Argenbright screeners with federal employees now being hired and trained, officials said. <br> <br> Congress has banned the new agency from future contracts with the company because of its history of security lapses. Violations included a security breach last November in which a man passed through an Argenbright checkpoint at O&#39;Hare with several knives, a stun gun and a can of Mace. <br> <br> Federal transportation officials initially said Atlanta-based Argenbright would vacate airport checkpoints by the end of March, but the deadline was pushed back to Monday when about two dozen airports served by Argenbright began the switch to other security companies. <br> <br> But passengers at O&#39;Hare&#39;s Terminal 1 as well as at airport terminals in Dallas; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Orlando; and San Francisco will continue to be screened by Argenbright personnel for at least several weeks, TSA officials said Monday. <br> <br> ``Argenbright security has been extended for a brief period,&#39;&#39; said TSA spokesman Paul Turk, although he said an exact date has not been set for the replacement of Argenbright with federal screeners. <br> <br> The TSA has a Nov. 19 deadline to replace all private screening companies at more than 400 airports with a workforce of 40,000 to 70,000 federal screeners and baggage checkers. <br> <br> There are more than 2,000 screeners at O&#39;Hare under the current privatized security arrangements, including about 550 Argenbright screeners at United&#39;s Terminal 1.