The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently named Margaret Hanson, a TSA officer (TSO) at Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA), as one of the national TSOs of the Year for 2021, according to a TSA press release.
The annual award is intended to highlight a TSO's contributions to the TSA and the community, as well as their integrity and professionalism.
“TSO Hanson is one of those people everyone would like to have on their team,” Andy Coose, TSA federal security director for Idaho, said in the press release. "She is selfless, hard-working, conscientious and always ready to help others."
Margaret Hanson
| TSA
Hanson serves as an On-the-Job coach, mentoring new TSOs and coordinating the recovery and processing of money left behind by passengers at the security checkpoint.
“Airport operations at IDA have grown very rapidly the past couple of years," Coose said. "Because of her commitment to the job and with the support of the entire TSA team, we have delivered ‘world class’ screening while providing the highest level of security.”
Hanson joined the agency in 2017 and is one of two recipients for 2021; the other recipient is Colorado TSO Kaitlyn Talley.
She is also Idaho's second national TSO of the Year in the last two years.
“A friendly greeting, eye contact and focusing on one passenger at a time is key,” TSO Hanson said. “Providing the respect we all deserve goes a long way toward making the passengers’ experience pleasant.”
TSA Administrator David Pekoske announced the 2021 award recipients virtually earlier this year from the agency's headquarters in Springfield, Virginia.
