Some airport managers will ban you from setting foot on airport property, there goes your lively hood.
Any airport manager that is so hostile towards freelancers that they would ban a person from airport property over a simple misunderstanding is not an airport manager I would want to have anything to do with.
Besides, I'm not talking about being told not to freelance, then going and doing it anyway. Of course that would be a bad idea.
I'm saying there's simply no reason to go asking around to begin with. Best case scenario is they'll say you're fine, worst case scenario, you'll bring a bunch of hassle on yourself. You don't stand to gain much by asking for permission, but you might lose a lot.
It's like dealing with an FAA inspector during a ramp check. Be polite, do what he says, but don't go showing off more than you need to.
Better to talk to them first, in any case the most professional thing to do.
I don't see how this is an issue of being professional versus unprofessional.
Of course, maybe this varies by region. Maybe things are more tightly controlled where you're from, and it would be considered unprofessional to not check with management before freelancing.
However, I've freelanced at three different airports now without checking with anyone, and nobody's said a word to me about it. Until reading this thread, I'd never considered checking with management. It hadn't even crossed my mind because that's not they way things are done where I'm from. Nobody cares what freelancers do. If they were to care, it would probably mean nothing but trouble for the freelancer.
