Photo by Joyce Boghosian/White House Archives
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The newly renamed President Donald Trump International Airport in Palm Beach is going viral after netizens discovered an internal memo, purportedly from United Airlines, stating that customers could switch destinations if they didn’t want to arrive in South Florida and see Trump’s name. There’s just one problem: United Airlines says the memo isn’t true.
That didn’t stop a few publications, like Insider Paper and Fox Business, from running stories this morning saying passengers could change their destination from Palm Beach to airports in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. In late March, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing the name change, reigniting nationwide controversy over attempts to name roads and buildings after Trump. Many of those renamed properties are here in South Florida, thanks to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago base near the airport.
According to a post on X from Insider Paper (an online publication based in New York), “United Airlines is allowing customers who object to flying into an airport named after President Donald Trump to switch their flights to Fort Lauderdale, according to a memo shared with Live And Let’s Fly.”
The tweet garnered nearly 50,000 views before United Airlines representatives told New Times the news is almost entirely false.
According to the purported memo (which Fox Business posted online), “If a customer does not want to fly to the airport, use your empowerment to offer acceptable alternatives such as Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) or Miami International Airport (MIA).”
The memo also allegedly contained guidance on how employees should respond to customers voicing an issue with their destination, reading, “I understand that you’d rather not fly to this airport anymore. We can look at nearby airports like Fort Lauderdale or Miami instead. Is that an acceptable alternative?”
The spokesperson confirmed the memo was real and sent out, but that the “message was poorly worded and not accurate. United customers are able to make changes to a ticket without a fee for many reasons. However, our policy doesn’t allow for changes because of an airport’s name or three letter code,” a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to New Times.
A representative from the White House hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
