We recently saw Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) be renamed and get a new IATA code, as it’s now officially known as President Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT). As you’d expect, opinions on that are mixed — some people are overjoyed to be able to fly into an airport named after Trump, while others are horrified.
Along those lines, United Airlines has quietly introduced an interesting policy internally, and it potentially creates an opportunity for passengers, which I find to be sort of hilarious.
United offers free changes for customers who don’t like Trump
Live and Let’s Fly reports on an internal memo that United Airlines reservations agents have been given, regarding the renaming of Palm Beach Airport. United is currently in the process of updating all of its systems to reflect the airport name and code change, and that also comes with some interesting guidance.
United is telling reservations agents that “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 idea is that customers can change their flights to those airports without a fare difference, though there’s an element of discretion to all of this.
The memo even gives reservations agents a suggested response if someone expresses concern, telling them to say “I understand that you’d rather not fly to this airport anymore,” and “we can look at nearby airports like Fort Lauderdale or Miami instead, is that an acceptable alternative?”
This policy strikes me as being… overly customer friendly?
Airlines typically don’t allow flight changes simply because a customer doesn’t like the name of an airport. I have to say, even as someone who objects to naming airports after politicians, not wanting to fly into the airport because of the name strikes me as a bit much… but that’s just me.
We’ll see how long this policy sticks around, but to state the obvious, there might even be some creative opportunities here, if you see a cheaper fare into Palm Beach, but actually want to fly to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. I imagine this policy will only stick around for so long, presumably covering the transition period.
Also, I’m curious how long until we see the first confrontation on a plane regarding the airport’s name. I’m envisioning something like the flight attendant still announcing the name as Palm Beach Airport, and then an angry passenger confronting them with their camera upon deplaning, asking them why they aren’t referring to the airport by the proper name. Not to give anyone any ideas, but that’s bound to happen soon… right?
Bottom line
We’ve just seen Palm Beach Airport renamed after President Trump, and the code has been updated from PBI to DJT. While people have mixed feelings about the name change, United is sure coddling customers, allowing changes with no fare difference to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. We’ll see how long this policy sticks around, but that’s quite something.