That ‘remote’ is a standard aircraft radio. You tune it to the airfield’s CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency, formerly referred to as Unicom), click the push-to-talk button something like 5 times, and the runway lights come on for several minutes.
And for many business charters, the local branch office has someone meet the incoming passengers at the terminal with a car.
Not that it is any of my business, but aren’t there terrorist training websites where you can get more complete answers to your questions about your COMPLETELY HYPOTHETICAL and yet oddly detailed proposal? I, for one, feel kind of edgy about the information trail we are all leaving here…
And that’s why pseudonymous message boards are so useful. 
You can get the same answer calling up a small local airport, or the FAA. It’s hardly a secret or anything.
Private aircraft over a particular size/weight - I believe it’s 12,500 pounds - are supposed to have more security than the 2 and 4 seat Cessnas/Pipers/Bellancas/Diamonds/homebults/etc. that I used to fly. Fact is, a Cessna 150 can only do so much damage even if crashed full speed into something. Think the average Hummer is capable of more mayhem, and for darn sure Timonthy McVeigh proved a Ryder rental van can be turned into a weapon of mass destruction… but we don’t require a [del]strip-search[/del] TSA screening to rent one.
The fact that you can hire a charter aircraft and not have to submit to security screening is hardly a secret. As noted above some charter companies use it as a selling point.
If the OP had been worded differently you probably wouldn’t even think about terrorists.
“I need to fly from A to B and am on a short time frame, can I charter an aircraft? If I do will I be able to avoid time consuming security screening and check in processes?”
It’s only when you start talking about a “hypothetical” trip from A to B and wanting to pay some down on his luck pilot several times more than the trip is worth that it start looking dodgy. You don’t need a shady pilot and you don’t need to pay him $5000 in cash for a small Cessna. You can just waltz up to any suitable charter company with honest to god working pilots with commercial licences and pay whatever they charge for the trip with a credit card.
That’s not exactly true. A few years ago I was on a charter flight from Nassau, Bahamas to JFK hired by a company for their employees. There was no one on the flight other than the company employees and family members except for the flight crew.
Before I boarded the plane I had to remove my shoes no less than three times. I got called out walking down the concourse after two levels of security. We go screened as though we were all potential terrorists. I don’t know what it was all about. It was a total waste of security resources but it happened nonetheless.
Here’s another question. Suppose a charter pilot flies a lone passenger who, unbeknownst to him, is smuggling drugs or weapons. And suppose ATF agents are waiting at the destination. Is the pilot on the hook as well? If so, might it not be in his best interest to conduct some sort of inspection, at least of baggage?
Yep, the pilot is on the hook in that case because the pilot is responsible for that flight.
You see, the general public seems convinced that pilots are dunces - sort of like the average automobile driver. In reality, there are damn few pilots who’d take a complete stranger up without at least looking him or her over.
As a private pilot, if you offered me a wad of cash to take you somewhere I’d immediately get suspicious and probably give you an non-negotiable “no”. If I don’t know you I’ll probably ask to see what’s in that huge bag you’re carrying and if you don’t show me you don’t fly.
For that matter, I was never inclined to take up strangers anyhow. I’ve had too many friends who took someone up and their passenger freaked out or started some crap that was anywhere from annoying to outright dangerous. Even if I know you, if you haven’t been up in a small airplane before I’m likely to take up up someone I trust just to keep an eye on you. It’s all very convivial, hey, let’s go somewhere as a group and have some fun together but yeah, I actually do give some thought to may passengers in regard to safety and security.
In the case of our company aircraft, the pilot was on the hook for customs. On one flight back from Mexico, he banned all food completely because too many morons were bringing back un-allowed food and not declaring it, and it was being found during customs inspection.
That reminds me, those were fun times. Entering US airspace, we’d land at a civil airport, get off of the plane with our carry ons, and then line up at a window just off of the taxiway, where immigration would welcome us back. At this point, customs was inside of the plane conducting an inspection. Sometimes we had to line up before re-boarding and let the dogs take a quick sniff.
When an aircraft is chartered, all of the passengers must be checked against the TSA no-fly list. The crew is then required to check ID’s prior to boarding. No further screening is required. However, the pilot in command (Captain) is ultimately responsible for every single person and item on board that aircraft; guns, drugs and purple people eaters included.
The TSA has proposed something called the Large Aircraft Security Program, which would require any aircraft over 12,500 lbs (very small in most people’s minds) to be subject to all the same security procedures as airliners. Many people and businesses are protesting that it would destroy the business aviation industry. The whole appeal of a business aircraft is that you can get to 5 meetings in 5 different cities in a single day. There’s simply no other way to do it. I’ve heard more than once from guys boarding on the last leg of the day that the airplane paid for itself ten times over that day. If our airplane, our passengers, and us pilots had to deal with TSA agents at each stop we could never make that happen.
Back when I was flying as a pilot regularly, I recall posters in the pilot flight prep area of “The FBI wants to talk to this person” with picture, description, and any other information that might be helpful - for example, one guy was purchasing a LOT of sight-seeing flights but some of his conduct was raising flags. Bottom of every poster had an easy to remember number to call if you saw or spoke with the dude.
I know in at least a few instances the person depicted was found and calls were made.
Just because small airports don’t have TSA/airliner type security doesn’t mean no one is watching. Security is different, not absent, because it’s a different environment. Small pilots aren’t dealing with thousands of strangers. Even with charter companies, pilots frequently come to have familiarity with regular customers.
I had the same experience flying from North Podunk to a farther north small city. Bit that was in the 90s. I would have figured that would have been clamped down on in the last decade or so. Surprising.
That is true but it isn’t necessarily the commercial pilot license that most people think of when they use the term. A Commercial pilot license is a license that allows you to fly for hire whether it is for banner towing, spraying crops, or carrying paying passengers for sight-seeing excursions or quick charter travel. It isn’t the Air Transport Pilot license that the pilots that fly for the regular airlines and is much less restrictive.
It isn’t directly related but the Pilot pilot’s license is all about being paid for flying and not about the size of the aircraft that you fly or the number of passengers you can carry. You can theoretically own and operate any plane as far as I know with a Private Pilot’s license including a 747 full of a few hundred of your closest friends and fly it into JFK or O’Hare as long as you have the appropriate type and instrument ratings and pay for everything yourself. I don’t think anyone has ever pushed it that far with just a Private Pilot license but you can fly your own jet airliner around all you want if you choose. John Travolta is a very good pilot and owns a custom 707 along with several other complex aircraft. You can also by used fighter planes fairly cheaply (at least until you start them up and they need maintenance) and fly those personally as well.
Right, you only need an ATP to be a pilot in command (aka captain) of a *scheduled *airliner. Anything else, a commercial ticket is fine, but there’s a move afoot to make first officers be ATP’s too.
If you’re feeling snoopy, and you don’t mind Uncle knowing who you are, you can look up anybody’s US license info (including Travolta’s) at https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/airmeninquiry/ .
Just to be clear, you can’t just offer to fly people from point A to point B in your aircraft for hire with just a commercial pilot licence either. The entire operation will also need to be certified, which includes additional requirements on fleet maintenance, crew training, FAA inspections, etc. There are exceptions for some of the activities mentioned, such as local sight-seeing flights, etc, but not for charter flights in general.