GA and the TSA.

[Mike M]

...what if I wanted to go to Chicago O'Hare???

http://www.airnav.com/fuel/local.html

go to that webpage, type in ORD and search for 100LL. you'll see why you won't want to go there very often. nor to any Signature FBO, which doesn't list it on their website but usually charges a ramp fee just to be there and sometimes won't waive it even if one fills one's tanks.

...Do GA pilots have to ever go through the same TSA ritual as the commercial passenger????

Yes, when operating out of a TSA'd terminal. including pt135 and pt121 pilots, unless they are scheduled crew with company+airport procedures to fast track them. some terminals still require all people going through the checkpoints to go through the same procedures. don't ask about the illegal immigrant ground service personnel who used faked documents to work for the contractors that deliver food, fuel, empty the toilets, shovel snow, trim shrubbery, fix fences, etc, etc...they often don't go through any checkpoints at all, but don't worry about them. not a problem. ignore the man behind the curtain.

as to the procedures YOU use as captain of your own aircraft - many of my friends and neighbors normally fly with their spouses, so the passenger has had a strip-search already. flying Young Eagles, we're much less invasive. up to you.

[WingsAloft]

No

Is this a national program, and if so, who qualifies for the honor?

[WingsAloft]

http://www.airnav.com/fuel/local.html

go to that webpage, type in ORD and search for 100LL. you'll see why you won't want to go there very often. nor to any Signature FBO, which doesn't list it on their website but usually charges a ramp fee just to be there and sometimes won't waive it even if one fills one's tanks.



Yes, when operating out of a TSA'd terminal. including pt135 and pt121 pilots, unless they are scheduled crew with company+airport procedures to fast track them. some terminals still require all people going through the checkpoints to go through the same procedures. don't ask about the illegal immigrant ground service personnel who used faked documents to work for the contractors that deliver food, fuel, empty the toilets, shovel snow, trim shrubbery, fix fences, etc, etc...they often don't go through any checkpoints at all, but don't worry about them. not a problem. ignore the man behind the curtain.

as to the procedures YOU use as captain of your own aircraft - many of my friends and neighbors normally fly with their spouses, so the passenger has had a strip-search already. flying Young Eagles, we're much less invasive. up to you.

So one can expect tsa harrassment procedures if the airport is big enough? The FBO's at LYH don't have this problem.

[WingsAloft]

wacoc8 is correct about ORD, Signature has a metal detector at the door way leading in from the parking lot, but no full body scan or groping that I know of. It doesn't make any difference if you fly in there with a C-172 or a Lear, still the same amount of screening. Of course you're going to pay the higher landing fees and fuel prices than at some smaller fields. If you fly into a smaller field with airline service and an FBO, then those areas are kept separate, meaning if you walk over to the airline side of the ramp from the FBO, the airline ground people will have a fit over it. I haven't been to DCA in some time, obviously since before 911, but they used to be busy, but they're a ghost town in comparison now. The vast majority of corporate owners will not put up with the requirements of landing at a gateway airport and having an armed guard on board into DCA. Yes, that's mandatory!

So whaf do these corporate owners do? Fly to smalker airports?

[WingsAloft]

As Jim Nabors, in his persona of Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, Surprise!" You've figured it out. Yes, I guess I am being somewhat sarcastic, but Security Theatre (aka TSA) is there only to harass the masses.

Then there is a pretty much effective way to avoid TSA, and these people have found the secret?

[WLIU]

Fly your own airplane and you will only see TSA if you choose to. I have flown my airplane all over the east coast and never had to even see a TSA uniform.

Interestingly, I went to Washington DC last year and decided to try the train from MA to DC rather than fly the airlines. Big seats, can get up and walk around anytime, all the food you want in the snack bar car, no need to turn off cell phones or laptops, and the train station in DC is within sight of the Capitol building and around the corner from the hotels. No need to rent a car. Compared to airport parking, TSA, cramped seats, etc., the train felt pretty good. Will do it again. Never thought I would say that in 2013.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[champ driver]

OK WingsAloft, let me make this perfectly clear. The DCA requirement to fly in there is ONLY for that airport and no others. This is no honor, it's a requirement that most are not willing to put up with. That's why I said that the FBO at DCA is a ghost town. The security at ONLY a few places like ORD and BOS is minimal from the full TSA procedures at airline terminals. Airline terminals and FBO facilities are separate and are NOT mixed at all. Like I said before, if you walk out on the ramp from the FBO over to the terminal area, they will blow a gasket. Now remember this is at small airports, where sometimes the FBO and terminal are nearby to each other, NOT like at any of the bigger airports where they're sometimes on the other side of the field. Yes, corporate owners sometimes fly to smaller airports, or in the case of DCA they may fly to Dulles instead, a much bigger airport, but no security.

[CarlOrton]

...snip... Airline terminals and FBO facilities are separate and are NOT mixed at all. Like I said before, if you walk out on the ramp from the FBO over to the terminal area, they will blow a gasket. ...snip...

And, I believe, it's a federal offense to enter a ramp area from an unsecured location. Isn't that what they busted that guy for up in JFK last year when his boat sank and he swam to shore, hopped the fence, and proceeded to the terminal? (may be wrong about the boat thing...)

[martymayes]

It was a jetskier and the only thing they could charge him with was trespassing.

[WingsAloft]

OK WingsAloft, let me make this perfectly clear. The DCA requirement to fly in there is ONLY for that airport and no others. This is no honor, it's a requirement that most are not willing to put up with. That's why I said that the FBO at DCA is a ghost town. The security at ONLY a few places like ORD and BOS is minimal from the full TSA procedures at airline terminals. Airline terminals and FBO facilities are separate and are NOT mixed at all. Like I said before, if you walk out on the ramp from the FBO over to the terminal area, they will blow a gasket. Now remember this is at small airports, where sometimes the FBO and terminal are nearby to each other, NOT like at any of the bigger airports where they're sometimes on the other side of the field. Yes, corporate owners sometimes fly to smaller airports, or in the case of DCA they may fly to Dulles instead, a much bigger airport, but no security.

Thanks for making that perfectly clear, champ driver. I already knew that at some airports like my own LYH the main terminal and FBOs are separate, thus making the TSA treatment unecessary. I have visited both areas of that airport (the main commercial terminal and Freedom Aviation). I have seen the Citation owner saunter in like the TSA didn't exist and had a pleasant conversation with his wife. No TSA. No fuss. But this is tooooo good to be true. You just can't have that much freedom left in America. So my question is this: Could the average GA pilot who only flies to FBOs expect to avoid the TSA or some similar setup? Or does the TSA insist that FBOs (at larger airports?) also bodily traumatize its customers? And let make this perfectly clear, champ driver: I find it the upmost honor to be groped by one of our brave TSA officers, ever vigilant in the face of terror, leading us on to a brave new world; a safer, more predictable, restrictive existance.