Palm Beach International Airport in South Florida is officially no more.
The airport’s jaunty logo, with the initials PBI in a bubbly font, has mostly been scrubbed from the terminal. Instead, a large sign hovers above the road outside the airport, greeting drivers with a golden, presidential-style emblem of an eagle surrounded by five stars, beside the words: President Donald J. Trump International Airport.
The renaming of the airport, which as of Aug. 18 has been fully adopted by the global aviation industry, appears to be a notable inflection point for an airport that in many ways seems frozen in amber.
The airport here in West Palm Beach evokes the past, with its stained-glass gazebos and a main terminal inspired by a Mediterranean courtyard. There’s a fountain of a lion spewing water and even an indoor putting green, but few other amenities.
The rebrand is without precedent. It’s the first airport to be named after a sitting president. But changing an airport’s three-letter codes is also exceedingly rare, aviation industry groups said — which is why, for example, the code for Chicago O’Hare (ORD) still refers to Orchard Field, the facility’s original name.
Now, PBI is DJT. Though locals might continue to refer to the airport as PBI, the systems underpinning air travel — online bookings, baggage, ticketing, aviation navigation and flight planning — no longer will.
Airports are assigned three- and four-letter codes as part of a consistent global system that’s been in place since the 1940s. These codes are “considered permanent and are almost never changed — and then only with strong justification, primarily concerning air safety,” according to a fact sheet from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which assigns the three-letter codes.
“It’s definitely going to take a little getting used to with the code. I’ve said PBI my entire life and I definitely will be saying it for a time moving forward,” said Logan Robinson, 27, who’s from Royal Palm Beach village. “In a way it will always be PBI to me.”
The renaming has unfolded in phases to allow time for the aviation industry to sync up the systems that identify the airport to airlines, pilots, air traffic controllers and passengers.
For the past month, the misalignment between the airport’s official name and its code baffled customers. Some said they were alarmed to receive notices from airlines and online travel agencies that their flight itineraries had changed. While travelers could book flights to or from PBI through Monday, they can’t on Tuesday, which has also stoked confusion.
Airport-naming decisions are made at the local level, said a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency overseeing civil aviation in the United States. Palm Beach International’s renaming, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into state law in March, has been divisive. At least two lawsuits have been filed opposing the change. Several thousand people have signed online petitions contesting the new name, citing its political partisanship and a shortfall of several million dollars required to update signage.
Mr. DeSantis defended the decision at a Tampa event earlier this year, stating that the action had been prompted by the Florida state legislature and not by the president. Donald J. Trump International Airport is in West Palm Beach, a 10-minute drive from Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club and residence in Palm Beach. Mr. Trump flies to and from the airport regularly.
“He’s a sitting president from Florida. The first one we’ve ever had from Florida. And so I thought it was appropriate,” Mr. DeSantis remarked, according to Florida Politics, a website covering elections and government.
Other travelers said they welcomed the change, which they don’t view as a notable departure from existing tradition. Mary Beth Briggs, who lives in nearby Wellington, said she loved the new name and emphasized that other presidents had airports and streets in their honor.
Eight other commercial airports reference U.S. presidents, including Gerald R. Ford International Airport, near Grand Rapids, Mich.; George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston; and Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, in Little Rock, Ark. None of the eight other airports were renamed while the presidents were in office.
“It’s just a matter of getting used to your surroundings, and change happens,” Ms. Briggs, 65, said. “They can change it in two years, five years, 20 years. Nothing stays the same.”
In 1936, when the airport began commercial flights, it was called Morrison Field, after Grace Morrison, the first woman from the area to fly solo and a leader of the effort to build the airport, according to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. A plaque on a wall on the third floor celebrates her “pioneer spirit in the creation of this airfield.” In 1948, local commissioners voted to adopt a new name, Palm Beach International Airport, which the airport held for nearly 80 years.
At Trump International, lingering evidence of the name change is muted. Signs have been updated, including for the main terminal’s small art gallery. The gift shop sells toy replicas of Air Force One. Last May, Palm Beach County commissioners approved a trademark and licensing agreement with President Trump’s family business that requires the airport to choose from a list approved by the family business for a vendor for any branded merchandise.
While waiting outside the airport for a ride home on Tuesday, Tony Olivo remarked that the name change was a “waste of our money.”
“When he’s out of office, I hope it can be changed back,” said Mr. Olivo, 72, who’s from New York and also spends time in Jupiter, Fla. “I just feel like a sitting president shouldn’t be able to name places after himself while they’re in office.”
His brother Frank, 68, pulled up to the curb to pick him up. Recently retired, he moved to Jupiter about six months ago. The president “wants his name on a lot of stuff,” he remarked.
“If that’s what makes him happy, I don’t care. I got bigger fish to fry,” he said.
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