EXCLUSIVE — The Federal Aviation Administration has shifted the flight path of planes coming and going from President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida, following public outcry that a newly imposed airspace restriction over Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence caused planes to fly over previously quiet communities.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford shared during an interview with the Washington Examiner on Friday that the agency had recently changed the course planes must follow when arriving at or departing from the airport to address complaints from neighbors.
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“I do appreciate the initial disturbance that it caused in the Palm Beach area because we were moving so quickly to respond to the Secret Service request,” Bedford said during an interview at the Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington. “But we have since redesigned the perimeter approaches around Mar-a-Lago to significantly reduce the noise in those areas, so I believe the noise complaints have gone down significantly since that initial setup.”
The shift in air traffic follows a lawsuit that Palm Beach County, along with the city and town of Palm Beach, filed against the FAA last December, which alleged the FAA’s decision to restrict all aircraft over Mar-a-Lago had prompted planes to chart a new path directly over once-quiet coastal communities.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss said in May that the change in flight paths due to the no-fly zone had affected 20,000 nearby residents. Since the changes were put in place, more than 6,000 noise complaints have been filed compared to fewer than a dozen per month prior to the changes.
The local governments claimed in a legal filing submitted to the court in June that FAA flight restrictions that were to be imposed over the president’s Florida residence and resort in October 2025 were put into place without adequate consideration for the impact on surrounding areas — and the FAA proceeded to put the restrictions in place anyway.
All aircraft and drones were banned from entering airspace within 1 nautical mile of Mar-a-Lago, up to 2,000 feet.
Bedford explained that the agency acted quickly because of information the U.S. Secret Service, a Department of Homeland Security agency, had shared with the FAA.
“The genesis of it was communication from the Secret Service to the FAA requesting that this perimeter exclusion zone be established,” Bedford said, adding that the Secret Service did not provide an explanation. “I don’t have access to their intel.”
The lawsuit is now before a federal appeals court and is expected to see a decision by early 2027, according to local news outlet WPTV.
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Trump’s Mar-a-Lago airspace issues are not new. Trump sued Palm Beach County in 2015 for $100 million, claiming the county’s airport director purposely directed departing flights to fly over Mar-a-Lago.
The airspace debate coincides with the July name change of Palm Beach International Airport to President Donald J. Trump International Airport.
