Federal officials have changed a commercial flight path out of Palm Beach International Airport following noise complaints from residents in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach.
Commercial flights from the airport now fly in a concentrated area north of Southern Boulevard, the Palm Beach County Citizens’ Committee on Airport Noise announced on Thursday, January 22. The change took effect immediately.
For Palm Beach, the new consolidated path shifts commercial flights away from Midtown, where they have been since October 20, and places them over the Estate Section.
The change is intended to bring relief to residents of neighborhoods in Midtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, and south of downtown West Palm Beach, where commercial flights began flying in response to an order from the Federal Aviation Administration.
On October 20, the FAA abruptly imposed a no-fly zone to keep air traffic one nautical mile away from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The ban is in effect 24/7, including periods when Trump is not in residence. The FAA has not provided an explanation for the flight restriction, which it has said will remain in effect at least until October 2026.
The decision announced on Thursday will spare residents of Midtown in Palm Beach and residents of the Grandview Heights and Flamingo Park neighborhoods in West Palm Beach from noise and soot from the low-flying planes.
Commercial flights out of PBIA will turn northeast over Palm Beach’s Estate Section and be consolidated in the area between El Bravo Way and the curve where South Ocean Boulevard meets South County Road. This will provide relief to residents on Worth Avenue, Everglades Island, and Australian Avenue, where the designated flight paths were from October 20 until Thursday.
Palm Beach Town Council member Lew Crampton, who holds a seat on the 10-member citizens’ committee on airport noise, told the Palm Beach Civic Association Friday that the new consolidated flight path is a matter of “give and take” for Palm Beach.
“There’s less fanning out over the northern [Midtown] sections, but it concentrates flights over those wonderful homes in the Estate Section,” Crampton said. “I would call that a slight victory. But we still have a lot of work to do.”
Crampton said residents called him on Friday to say that planes were still flying over Everglades Island rather than adhering to the new flight path. He said it will probably take time for the change to be fully implemented.
“Sometimes weather and congestion create a problem,” Crampton said.
Palm Beach has two representatives on the airport noise committee. The other representative is Martin Klein, chairman of Palm Beach’s Code Enforcement Board.
In a federal court case filed December 12, the Palm Beach County government asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to require the FAA to explain why it banned all aircraft from flying over Mar-a-Lago, regardless of whether Trump is in town, at least until October 20, 2026. On the same day, Palm Beach and West Palm Beach filed petitions challenging the FAA’s action. The court consolidated the cases.
The county plans to install noise monitors in around 10 locations below the flight paths in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach. Nancy Pullum, chairman of the airport noise committee, said data from the noise monitors will be critically important.
“The more data we have, the better case we have,” Pullum said. “It’s going to help us to help the airport measure the impact on neighborhoods.”
Pullum urged residents to submit complaints online at Plane.Noise.com/pbi or by phone at 561-244-9510.
“People are just numb,” she said. “They’re not going online to register complaints or calling in, which is part of the case we need to build.”
Some residents are discussing a possible lawsuit over alleged damage to their property values caused by the October 20 flight path changes, Palm Beach resident David Skok said.
“Our goal is not to make money out of this,” Skok said. “Our goal is not to disrupt the president’s security.”
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