I’m curious as to how the TSA, a government agency, operates in privately-owned airports. Do the airports pay the TSA? Is it a free government service? What if the airport thinks the TSA is doing a terrible job, and wants to perform their own screening? And what happened to the companies who, I assume, did the screening before 9/11?
Similarly, what if an airport thinks all the security is unecessary, and tells them to get lost. Is screening by the TSA legally required for airplanes greater than a certain size?
Let’s say I’ve got a pile of cash, and I decide to start an airline. I buy a bunch of Boeing 777s, and build brand-new airports on privately-owned lands. If I try to fly my own airplanes out of my privately-owned airports without screening the passengers first, who’s going to stop me?
Assume everything else is legal and an in order - permits, pilot’s licenses, whatever.
The TSA is charged with making the transportation networks safe, and if those planes intend to go airborne, then the passengers fall under their jurisdiction. Ownership of the airport (or plane) doesn’t matter.
As diggleblop’s link illustrates, passenger screening doesn’t need to be done by the TSA per se, but they still have jurisdiction.
All the airlines are regulated by the government, the air traffic controllers are government employees, the air space is regulated by the government. The government can set any rules and regulations it wishes and all commercial airlines and airports have to follow them to the last paragraph. You can’t build a private airport and fly your planes in the U.S.
Commercial airports are government facilities. Period.
Note to nitpickers. Small private airports for privately owned planes obviously exist. They are also regulated by the government but are operated somewhat differently from commercial airports. The OP was, to me, obviously referring to commercial airports and I answered it that way.