CHICAGO- United Airlines (UA) has ruled out free ticket changes for passengers who no longer want to fly to the renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport (PBI) in West Palm Beach, Florida. The carrier says a leaked internal memo that suggested otherwise was worded incorrectly.
The memo had told reservation agents they could move objecting travelers to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) or Miami (MIA) at no charge. United now says its policy does not allow fee free changes based on an airport’s name or 3 letter code.
Inside Leaked United Airlines Memo
The internal message, dated July 8, 2026 and titled “West Palm Beach, Florida Airport Name and Code Change,” directed reservation agents to rebook passengers scheduled to fly into the renamed airport onto flights to Fort Lauderdale or Miami.
The guidance read: “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).”
It also gave agents a script for the conversation: “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 memo authorized agents to process these voluntary changes as an “even exchange,” meaning no additional fare would be collected even if the fare into Miami or Fort Lauderdale was higher. That made the switch effectively free, an unusual step for a name-related request.
The story was broken by Live and Let’s Fly on July 16. It went viral, and United began reviewing the memo soon after.
United Walks Back the Guidance
United is not denying that the memo reached agents, or that anyone who read it would think passengers could rebook onto flights to alternative airports to deliberately avoid the renamed airport. Instead, the airline says the wording did not reflect its actual policy.
The carrier stated: “That internal message was poorly worded and not accurate.” It added: “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.”
In effect, United says the memo meant something different from how agents and the public read it.
How the Airport Got Its New Name
The renaming was driven by Florida state law. The Legislature passed it in February, 81-30 in the House and 25-11 in the Senate; Governor Ron DeSantis signed it on March 30, and the FAA approved the change on May 15.
The airport formally became President Donald J. Trump International Airport on July 9, the first time in United States history that a commercial airport has been named after a sitting president.
Before the change could take effect, Palm Beach County entered a licensing agreement with the President because he had trademarked his name.
The board of commissioners approved that agreement in a contested 4-3 vote. The switch is costing about $5.5 million, split evenly between the state and the airport.
The renaming created a split in how the airport is identified, which explains why United’s booking tool still shows PBI.
The FAA locational identifier changed to DJT and the ICAO identifier became KDJT on July 9. The passenger-facing IATA code, however, remains PBI and does not transition to DJT for new flight bookings until August 18, 2026.
That gap is why passengers still see PBI when booking. PYOK reported that United’s online tool still displayed the airport as West Palm Beach, FL, US (PBI) at the time of publication, even when a search recognized the DJT code, directing users back to results showing PBI.
The airport received hundreds of complaints through its online contact form after the rename. Many travelers have openly vowed to boycott the facility.
What Travelers Should Know
United has made its position clear. Passengers cannot request a fee-free change simply because an airport has been renamed or assigned a different code.
Travelers may still qualify for no-cost changes under other eligible United ticket policies, but the airline says an airport’s name or three-letter code is not one of those reasons.
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