PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — In a move with major implications for pilots, Palm Beach County and the ongoing legal battle over airspace — the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a new letter that formally resets and extends flight restrictions around Mar-a-Lago for another full year, effective Dec. 10, 2025.
The letter, sent Wednesday by Palm Beach Air Traffic Manager Mark Siviglia and obtained by WPTV’s Michael Hoffman, outlines a set of temporary flight restriction-driven procedural amendments for Palm Beach International Airport (PBI).
WATCH: Pilots say flight restrictions affecting landings
While many of the operating limits were already in place under the year-round flight restriction activated on Oct. 20, this letter establishes a new one-year timeframe—now stretching to Dec. 10, 2026.
This directly contradicts earlier understanding that the restrictions would expire one year from their October activation. Instead, the FAA’s new directive effectively “resets the clock” as of Dec. 10.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the FAA’s new letter is viewed internally as a direct response to Palm Beach County’s decision to move forward with litigation against both the FAA and the U.S. Secret Service, regarding the impact of the Mar-a-Lago flight restrictions on airport operations and local businesses.
The issuance of the letter appears to formalize the procedures while the case proceeds.
County files appeal
WPTV’s Michael Hoffman confirmed Palm Beach County has already filed an appeal to the FAA’s extension, which officials say was done “reluctantly.” In a statement, the county wrote:
The County fully appreciates the paramount importance of Presidential security and remains committed to working with the FAA to explore alternatives to the flight restrictions that provide for the President’s security while reducing the impacts on PBI’s users and the surrounding community.
Pilots describe daily impacts
For pilots who regularly operate in and out of PBI, the restrictions are no longer occasional — they’re now part of everyday flying.
DeWitt Ingram, who lives beneath the flight path, spent more than a decade as an air traffic controller, 25 years as a commercial pilot for American Airlines, and still flies corporate aircraft today. He says aviation has been his life.
“When he’s in town, we will always have to protect the president,” Ingram said. “Everyone is asking, what’s changed so that we have to suffer these impacts now on a daily basis?”
WATCH: Palm Beach County challenges FAA flight rules
Ingram says once the restrictions were placed indefinitely, he began noticing their effects most clearly during landings. He described the modified approach path as resembling a hockey stick — with aircraft flying a long, straight offshore approach before making a sharp turn over residential neighborhoods to line up with the runway.
“At the very last moment, at low altitude, the pilot has to change course by 57 degrees,” Ingram said. “That’s a big turn for a big jet that low to the ground, that close to the runway.”
Ingram says the next step should be renewed negotiations between the FAA, the Secret Service and local stakeholders to find safer alternatives that still meet security needs.
Operational changes at PBI
The FAA memo outlines several operational shifts at PBI, including:
- Runway 28R arrivals restricted to approved IFR aircraft using designated offset procedures
- Runway 10L and 10R departures receiving special tower-assigned headings to avoid the TFR
- Runway 10L arrivals receiving alternate missed-approach instructions
- Runway 32 arrivals prohibited from circling to land on Runway 28R
All other procedures remain unchanged.
Those wishing to appeal the new procedural amendments have until 11:59 p.m. Friday — essentially midnight going into Saturday — to file.
The FAA is directing pilots and operators to consult current NOTAMs for up-to-date TFR information.
WPTV will continue tracking the county’s legal challenge and any changes to flight operations at PBI.
NEW LETTER FROM FAA:
PETITION FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW:
