$5.5 million later, the President Donald J. Trump International Airport is now airborne

“A very big day in Palm Beach, Florida, where it was my great honor to have the Palm Beach International Airport be renamed, by a spectacular vote, the President Donald J. Trump International Airport,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, calling it “one of the greatest and most spectacular airports anywhere in the world!”

“The area is HOT, the location is GREAT, and the renovation will be SPECTACULAR. Thank you to all in Palm Beach for your vote and your confidence.”

Trump’s son, Eric, also shared his excitement on X as “someone who flies out of [Palm Beach] nearly every day.”

“There is no person who has done more for Florida and our country, and no one more deserving of this incredible honor,” he wrote. “I will forever be proud to see the initials ‘DJT’ on my boarding pass.”

Not all travelers feel the same pride, however, with some commenting that they’re now removing Palm Beach from their bucket lists and predicting that “within 10 years, the airport will go bankrupt,” referring to the time between 1991 and 2014 when Trump used Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring for six of his corporate business entities.

Keegan Collett, who was departing the airport just after it was renamed, told the local ABC news outlet that he was surprised to see the name and doesn’t think Trump deserves it.

“There’s bigger things,” he said. “I feel like it’s just more of a distraction.”

Also garnering attention is the “Trump Force One,” a Boeing 757 owned by The Trump Organization — not to be confused with Trump Airlines, which defaulted on its debt in the 1990s. Trump Force One was the first plane to arrive at the airport under its new name, just after 5 a.m. on Friday, July 10.

An airport name change is rare and risky

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation earlier this year that made the airport’s name change — a rare and complicated process — possible, at a price tag of $5.5 million. The State of Florida appropriated $2.75 million toward the project, while the remaining costs are being funded through the Department of Airports’ operating budget and capital improvement program.

While the airport’s name was officially changed on July 9, the three-letter airport code will not change from PBI to DJT until August 18. In other words, for the next 40 days, the Federal Aviation Administration locational identifier and the International Civil Aviation Organization will be forced to use a different airport code for pilots and air traffic controllers (DJT) than travelers will use for their flight information (PBI).

That’s, in part, why it’s incredibly uncommon for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to approve changes to airport location codes, which “are almost never changed — and then only with strong justification, primarily concerning air safety,” according to the IATA, as reported by CBS News.

Henry Harteveldt, Atmosphere Research Group airline industry analyst, told CBS News that, in the meantime, airlines have implemented “hard coding” into their reservation systems and passenger services to make sure that both passengers and their bags actually make it to Palm Beach.

What travelers flying to and from Palm Beach should expect

Palm Beach is a growing hub for some eight million travelers, some of whom may be surprised to see Trump’s name at the airport.