If your flight at Palm Beach International Airport was delayed in 2025, you’re far from alone.
At PBI, soon to be renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport, nearly 2,800 flights experienced lengthy delays last year, with the average delay exceeding 140 minutes.
PBI recorded the highest rate of 180‑minute‑plus delays and was also identified as the worst airport in the country for delays of 60 minutes or more, with a delay rate of 10.3%
The findings are part of an analysis undertaken by AirAdvisor, a flight and baggage compensation service. It examined delays at 47 major U.S. airports that occurred during calendar year 2025. The study assessed both how often long delays occurred and how severe those delays became once the three‑hour threshold was crossed.
One airport, PBI, stood out for its particularly high likelihood of long delays, the report noted. Another Florida airport, Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers, had the second-worst delay rate at 8.9%, with many of them far longer.
AirAdvisor said the purpose of its rankings is to highlight “passenger disruption risk” rather than assign blame, emphasizing that weather, air-traffic-control limits and airline operations all contribute to delays.
The firm noted that a delay of more than 180 minutes significantly affects travel.
So what are the reasons for the flight delays?
One factor that impacts flight schedules is the frequent visits of President Donald Trump to PBI. He spends much of the winter at this Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, and Air Force One lands at PBI, where he disembarks at the Atlantic Aviation hangar on the southern side of the airport..
Rebeca Krogman, spokesperson for the airport, noted that PBI also serves a high volume of flights to the Northeast, which is among the most congested airspace in the country.
“As a result, delays experienced at those upstream airports, particularly in cities like Newark, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, can impact flight schedules at PBI throughout the day,” she said. “A variety of factors were responsible. These include weather conditions, both locally and along flight routes, air-traffic congestion, and operational impacts such as runway construction projects.”
Krogman also noted that PBI has a significant presence of private aircraft service, often ranking the airport among the busiest commercial service airports in the nation for general aviation activity.
Many of the contributing factors to delays are also outside the airport’s direct control and reflect broader systemwide challenges in the national airspace. But recent infrastructure improvements, including airfield and runway work, are expected to enhance long-term reliability and capacity, according to Krogman.
“The airport also works to maintain efficient ground operations and support airlines in keeping flights on schedule.”
Analyst: PBI airport delay rate at 10% disrupts travel for passengers
Anton Radchenko, CEO of AirAdvisor, though, said the high rate of delays at PBI throughout an entire year “points to something deeper” than isolated incidents.
He acknowledged congestion at Northeast airports is a reason for the delays at PBI but noted that they are consistently above the regional and national average. And there is a real disruption to travel when delays are as high as they are at PBI.
“With a delay rate over 10% and an average delay of over two hours, the result is that passengers increasingly do not make their flights at all,” Radchenko said. “At some point, a delay stops being recoverable — the next flight simply doesn’t go. For passengers, that’s where a disrupted journey becomes a canceled one.”
Under US Department of Transportation rules, airlines are not required to compensate passengers for delays alone. Airlines may offer meals, accommodation, or rebooking during severe disruptions, but policies vary widely.
PBI also did not fare well in an analysis of complaints made to the Transportation Security Administration at 63 of America’s busiest airports.
Student travel company Rustic Pathways analyzed complaints made from 2015 to 2024 and found PBI had the fourth-highest complaint rate, with 8.57 complaints per 100,000 passengers.
The airport recorded 2,686 total complaints, with “Mishandling of Passenger Property” (25.5%), “Expedited Passenger Screening Program” (22.2%) and “Customer Service” (17.5%) being the biggest causes.
Orlando, Jacksonville, and Southwest Florida were also in the top 10 airports with the highest complaint rates.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump airport will inherit poor record for lengthy flight delays
Reporting by Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
