The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has selected teams led by Boeing Service Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. for airport security contracts totaling at least $850 million. The winning teams also include engineering and construction firms. Both contracts were announced June 6 by DOT's Transportation Security Administration.

TSA is under tight, congressionally set deadlines to upgrade security at 429 commercial airports around the country. Boeing's contract, valued at $508 million, calls for installing up to 1,100 explosive detection system machines and 4,800 to 6,000 explosive trace detection machines by Dec. 31. That is the deadline Congress mandated in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.

The contract also includes "continuous improvement of the equipment," managing maintenance of the machines and training screeners in how to operate the scanning gear, TSA said.

The Boeing team includes: DMJM Aviation, Leo A. Daly, Turner Construction Co. and Hanscomb. A TSA spokesperson said the agency doesn't release the names of other bidders for its contracts.

The Lockheed Martin contract, whose base value is $350 million, covers implementing a plan the company's team submitted to DOT last month for reconfiguring passenger lanes, adding security technologies and supporting the shift to federal screeners at airports. Lockheed Martin's team includes Parsons Corp.

Other contenders for that contract were teams led by a unit of Fluor Corp. and by Hensel Phelps Construction Co. In April, TSA awarded those two teams and Lockheed Martin's phase-one contracts to submit plans for the airport security work.