CLT's policy, among the first in the nation, applies to approximately 9,000 airline workers, concession and aviation department employees at the North Carolina airport, which served more than 44 million passengers last year. McCarran International in Las Vegas has a similar program in place.
Officials at CLT say they enacted the policy to be proactive about the security threats identified in the report that came out at approximately the same time. The Congressional report mentions general examples of gun and drug smuggling, an attempted bomb detonation, willingness to smuggle in explosives, and links to terrorist activities overseas-all by employees at U.S. airports. Specific incidents cited include three employees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport who were recruited to fight for ISIS; a Delta Air Lines employee who smuggled firearms on flights between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Kennedy International Airport in New York; and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector who was carrying a firearm in his baggage at LaGuardia International.