Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump visits hit airport businesses
TENANTS SEEK RELIEF FROM FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS The owner of one aviation business said he is losing so much money that he could be forced to close by May 1.
As President Donald Trump plans for his third consecutive weekend visit to Palm Beach, tenants at Lantana Airport told their congresswoman Monday his trips could put them out of business.
The airport is only six miles from Trump’s oceanfront Mara-Lago estate in Palm Beach. The Secret Service has ordered the airport closed when Trump visits because a rogue aircraft taking off there could pose a security threat.
Bruce Pelly, director of airports for Palm Beach County, said he’s heard Trump could be back for the upcoming Presidents Day weekend. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice Monday indicating flight restrictions would be in place this weekend.
During Trump’s first weekend visit as president, flight restrictions cost Lantana Airport $30,000 and Palm Beach International Airport about $217,000, according to a county report. Numbers for this past weekend have not been calculated.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, DWest Palm Beach, says she will meet with the Secret Service to push for changes that could allow Lantana Airport to operate at least on a limited basis dur-
ing presidential visits. She heard from about a dozen business owners during a meeting at the airport Monday.
One possible solution under discussion is creating a narrow corridor that would allow planes to fly south away from Mar-aLago.
Jorge Gonzalez, owner of Skywords Advertising, said he has lost about $40,000 in revenue because of flight restrictions in place when Trump visited the past two weekends. With more than 90 percent of his business occurring on weekends, he said he could be forced to close by May 1 if he keeps losing that much money.
“He’s all about saving jobs,” Gonzalez said. “He just needs to get the Secret Service to be more reasonable.”
Gonzalez started his business about 10 years ago, and he said he pulls advertising banners for clients that include Delray Medical Center and Rocco’s Tacos. Moving his business would mean losing all of the clients and customers he’s built relationships with over the years, he said.
About 300 aircraft are based at the airport, along with businesses that span from a flight-training school to an aircraft maintenance shop.
Frankel said protecting the president is the top priority, but she’ll relay the concerns of Gonzalez and other business owners to the Secret Service and White House. She is also pushing for more federal assistance to reimburse Palm Beach County for the cost of protecting the president when he visits.
Earlier this month, Frankel joined protesters opposing Trump in West Palm Beach. Later that same day, she attended a charity fundraiser the president hosted at Mar-a-Lago. She said she did not have an opportunity to speak directly with Trump about the issue.
Lantana Airport made headlines after the 9/11 attacks as the location where one of the hijackers, Mohammed Atta, built his flying experience. County officials say they would be willing to agree to stricter security measures at the airport when Trump visits, including background checks of pilots, fingerprinting and searches from the Transportation Safety Administration.
When Trump visits, commercial air traffic isn’t significantly affected. But smaller planes are grounded within a 30-mile ring around Mar-a-Lago, and Lantana Airport is shut down because of its closeness to the estate.
Flight training, sightseeing planes and banner-towing operations are all prohibited within the 30-mile ring.
County Commissioner Dave Kerner said he doesn’t think the county could provide rent assistance to the airport’s tenants to offset their losses, and he’s hopeful the federal government could work out a solution that would allow the airport to remain viable.
Frankel suggested the president consider other places to visit on the weekends — perhaps a ski trip to Utah.
“It’s a big country,” she said. “There are so many places to go visit. The White House might want to take that into account.”