TSA screening at gateway airports for Palm Beach bound private jet flights and limited departure times are part of Trump TFR restrictions.
Private jet travelers heading to and from Palm Beach, Florida, will need to brace for delays, extra security stops, and higher prices once Donald J. Trump becomes President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025.
Temporary Flight Restrictions, or TFRs, will be in effect during his stays at his Mar-a-Lago Club.
They will impact private jet flights arriving and departing at Palm Beach International Airport.
PBI ranked as the second-busiest airport for private jet flights in 2023.
Multiple sources expect the delays to be worse than during Trump’s term as POTUS 45, at least during an early adjustment period.
According to WingX data, PBI saw 87,297 movements in 2024, 55% more than in 2017.
That was Trump’s first year in the White House.
Back then, PBI was in the 7th spot for private jet departures per ARGUS Traqpak.
Executives say that during Trump’s first term, he was typically at Mar-a-Lago multiple times monthly during the season.
Also, it wasn’t unusual for Trump to visit on short notice.
What’s more, he typically visited between Thursdays and Sundays.
According to an FAA presentation reviewed by Private Jet Card Comparisons, private jet flyers who want to fly to PBI when a TFR is in effect must depart or transit via five gateway airports.
Airports include Westchester County Airport in New York, Teterboro Airport in New Jersey (the busiest airport in the world for private jets), which is the principal airport serving Manhattan, Dulles International Airport outside Washington D.C., Orlando International Airport, and Fort Lauderdale International Airport.
Aircraft operators must register with TSA at the preferred gateway airport at least 24 hours before departure.
There will be reservation slots.
As an added obstacle, TFRs will not be announced earlier than 72 hours before implementation.
Flyers who want to depart from PBI must also undergo TSA screening.
The presentation shows screening is available at FBOs operated by Signature, Atlantic Aviation, Jet Aviation, and a private NetJets terminal.
According to the presentation, screening is only available between 8 am and 5 pm, which would impact not only the folks in the back of the airplane but also private jets on repositioning flights.
Several operators say the last screening slot will be at 4:45 pm.
The crew, in addition to passengers, has to be screened.
That means a charter or fractional jet that drops off passengers at 7 pm in Miami would not be able to reposition to PBI until after stopping at FLL at some point after 8 am the next day.
The restrictions will create challenges for floating fleet operators, whose private jets fly from customer to customer instead of back to a base, as is often the case with managed charter jets.
In other words, the operator would not be able to use the airplane that landed in Miami the night before for a client who wanted to leave Palm Beach at 8 am if the TFR was in effect.
At the same time, a client who had booked a departure from PBI before 8 am or after 5 pm before a TFR’s announcement would have to move their departure time.
That assumes they can get a screening slot.
They could also depart from an airport outside the zone.
Alternative airports include Witham Field in Stuart, Florida, 40 miles north of PBI, or Boca Raton Airport, 25 miles to the south.
While BCT is closer, one executive says it is already busy and doesn’t have the space to handle significant overflow.
“It will be good business for black cars,” quipped one executive.
Flexjet Executive Vice President of Sales D.J. Hanlon is optimistic.
He says the industry is accustomed to overcoming obstacles and impediments daily.
Last time, he says it was initially bumpy, but TSA, operations, and customers quickly adapted and were able to work around the restrictions.
“People understand, it’s the leader of the free world,” he says.
The 15 largest operators accounted for 48.2% of the PBI private jet volume, per WingX.
NetJets was the largest operator at PBI in 2024, with 19,489 arrivals and departures, 22.3% of the total per WingX.
Its aircraft management arm, Executive Jet Management, which handles NetJets off-fleet flying, was fourth with 2,325 movements.
Flexjet was second with 6,449 flights in and out of PBI last year.
Jet card and fractional operators FlyExclusive, Hera Flight, Jet Linx, PlaneSense, Solairus Aviation, Vista Global, and Wheels Up were among the most significant private operators at PBI.
Executives say that flyers should start to consider the implications.
“There will be extra costs and flight time for flyers who want to fly into PBI. These costs reflect the extra flight time, the cost of pilots, ground handling from extra stops, extra resources in operations and dispatch, and so forth. Most operators are not using it as an excuse to make more money. They are simply trying to ensure they recover hard costs they will incur,” says Craig Ross, CEO of Aviation Portfolio, a service that supports fractional and full aircraft owners.
He adds, “I would strongly encourage people to fly in or out of airports not covered by the TFR. Due to volume or staffing, it is hard to know when there will be delays at the gateway airports. The last time these rules were in effect, you could be on the ground for over an hour waiting to be cleared.”
Unity Jets Director of Client Service Patty Hernandez says the setup at gateway airports will likely differ slightly.
That can include deplaning, going through metal detectors or being screened with hand wands, and having baggage removed and screened.
Adding possible weather and air traffic control delays and crew duty time restrictions will make a complicated business even more complex.
Furthermore, during VIP arrivals, a runway sweep and freeze typically lasts about 10 minutes before arrival until the VIP exits the airfield.
There is a similar freeze on departures.
Trump hosted foreign leaders during his first presidency at his Florida clubs, meaning more closures.
While the closures are typically brief, along with ATC constraints, one operator says the impact can last for hours.
“There are already ATC delays in Florida. There are delays and reroutes because of rocket launches (at the Kennedy Space Center in Port Canaveral, 155 miles north of PBI),” the source says.
Large players may be able to position extra aircraft at PBI and more easily shift flights to airports outside the TFR.
“The big guys simply have more airplanes and more pilots,” says one charter broker.
Managed private jets could be more impacted.
“The (aircraft) owner could be concerned their trip will be delayed once a TFR is implemented,” says one broker.
“I can see an operator canceling because of the (airplane) owner,” he says.
“They could have an adjacent flight that will be impacted,” he notes.
“Also, the owner may not want the extra cycle of stopping at a gateway airport,” the broker adds.
The number of landings and takeoffs guides inspections and specific component replacements.
Since the TFRs will likely not be in place when you book, Hernandez says flyers may find they need to go with the flow if Trump decides to visit during their trip.
She says that operators are unlikely to use the TFR as an excuse to cancel a flight outside of stated terms.
That means changing when they want to fly or flying from an airport outside the TFR.
Another issue will be the extra charges.
Hernandez says most charter operators typically have the right to do so.
She says they will charge additional fees to cover extra flight time and crew duty hours.
The operator may also move the departure or arrival from PBI to a nearby airport for operational reasons.
“Flyers should double check and get in writing any waivers they are promised for taxi time, segment minimums, or extra flight hours incurred due to stops at gateway airports when the TFR is in effect,” says Aviation Portfolio’s Ross.
He adds, “The TFRs can be implemented on short notice—and last time, we saw that operators enforced cancelation restrictions even if the TFR was implemented inside the cancelation window. So, if you are going to fly to PBI or an airport under the Mar-a-Lago TFR, you need to consider booking your flight to an airport outside the TFR.”
By-the-seat private flight providers such as JSX, XO, and Tradewind Aviation are impacted, too.
The trio operates scheduled flights from private terminals at PBI.
JSX flies to Westchester County from PBI.
Marketing Director Ben Kaufman says, “Our response to and communication around each TFR will be timely and agile, but there is not a blanket action we are taking relative to PBI that would automatically apply to all impacted flights.”
He adds, “Because each TFR is unique in length and location, we’ve drafted an operational playbook that provides specific action items for different workgroups within JSX. Our strategy will focus on proactive communication that minimizes disruption for our customers and protects the integrity of the operation.”
Tradewind Aviation, however, isn’t waiting.
Chief Commercial Officer David Zipkin says the airline’s decision to move its flights from PBI to the Bahamas, launched just last Fall, to Witham Field was a response to the TFR.
He says, “We decided the disruptions wouldn’t be worth it.”
It may be too early to say whether the TFRs will prove a mountain or a molehill.
Airshare CMO Andy Tretiak says, “During his first term, we don’t recall his travel having a major impact on our operations.”
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