A perspective on security
 

I follow the TSA discussion with great interest and firmly believe that the actions of the TSA are unconstitutional. Having said that, here is a point I would like to bring up.

For the last 10+ years, all my flights have been private/charter. In summary, your stuff gets loaded on the plane, you board the plane, and off you go. It takes the better part of 2 minutes from arriving at the terminal.

No carry-on pilfering, no TSA handjobs.

As such, the argument that you got to give up your 1/2 inch serrated paper knives or bring grandma for a proper rub-down because we attempt to keep terrorists from taking over big planes 9-11 style is just ridiculous since I can charter any size aircraft at a moment's notice.

What's your point?

Charter companies know their customer. You can't just call up an airline and tell them you want to charter a 757 from A to B without them doing some checking on you in the background. Netjets and other small aircraft charters do their own checking.

Unless they know you very well, the flight deck door will be closed and locked (no visits) and they may also inspect bags. Now if you're a known customer and deemed low risk, you can get away with a lot more during a private charter - case in point, the onboard party during a couple demo flights at the Continental DO in Houston last year.