LANTANA, Fla. — It was a quiet evening at Lantana Airport, with few planes taking off and landing.
Pilots there were gearing up for an even quieter weekend.
Flight instructors worry about the impact of Trump's visits
“Every time the president comes into town, it goes into effect what is called a TFR — temporary flight restriction,” said Daniel Lopez, a retired flight instructor.
Planes will not be allowed to take off or land at the airport until Sunday at 6 p.m., now that President Trump is back in town, putting the aviation business in Lantana on pause.
Lopez used to work at Palm Beach Flight Training, a flight school in Lantana. He recalled the impact of Trump's visits during his first term.
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“The flight school is going to lose all the business that they normally get on the weekend and it’s a lot because on the weekends there’s more flow of students coming to get lessons, people wanting to go somewhere in the air around the area in a small airplane,” said Lopez.
He added that the flight school, along with other businesses at Lantana Airport, will lose thousands of dollars every time the president visits.
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Laydy Ochoa, a current flight instructor, said she’s hoping the county will make an exception for the school to fly during these TFRs. In the meantime, she said they’re working around it.
“We’re trying to accommodate students to come in on the weekdays and maybe do the theories, what we call the ground portions, on the weekends because it's really the only option," Ochoa said.
Lantana isn't the only airport impacted. Any planes within a radius of about 30 nautical miles will face the same restrictions.
"It’s going really down to Pompano, so it’s a really big TFR," Ochoa said.
As for commercial planes entering and leaving PBIA, Lopez said they could also see interruptions.
"When Air Force One is landing, I mean, there’s no other flights around him. Once the airplane is on the ground, they resume operations," he said.
