Airport Experience® News - Retail Issue 2026

A Different Kind Of Naming Deal Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is now officially President Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT) . This change stems from state legislation signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. While Chicago is still writing the rules for how a sponsor’s brand touches a concourse, PBI has a licensing structure already in force. This structure governs merchandise and marketing tied to a name mandated by statute rather than won through a competitive process. According to Rebeca Krogman, airport spokesperson at PBI, the transition will occur in phases as funding becomes available. The department intends to seek various funding avenues including state transportation grants and legislative appropriations, routing future financial decisions through the standard budget process of the airport. Implementing this transformation carries an estimated cost of $5.5 million. The state budget supports this effort with a $2.75 million allocation, and the remaining balance will come from the airport operating budget. Daily operations, safety protocols and customer services continue under the same management team. Along with the name change came an IATA code change. IATA rarely touches a location code once it’s assigned. The organization’s own guidance describes these three-letter codes as permanent, changed almost never and only with strong justification tied to air safety. In this case, the request to swap PBI for DJT came directly from the major airlines serving the airport, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, rather than from the airport or the state, reports said. Managing The Merchandise In May 2026, Palm Beach County approved a licensing agreement with DTTM Operations LLC (a Trump Organization entity) to use the trademarked name. Trademark filings preceded the state law. The private company filed applications for the names in February. Under the licensing agreement, the county operates under a royalty-free license.

Above: Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) was officially renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport on July 9.

The Trump Organization retains quality control and approval over the brand under the agreement, including a vendor-approval clause covering airport-branded merchandise. That clause raises a specific question the airport has left open. If a concessionaire wants to sell a t-shirt or mug bearing the DJT name, does that item need sign-off from the Trump Organization before it reaches a shelf? Krogman says the airport itself stays out of that business. “President Donald J. Trump International Airport does not sell airport branded merchandise, and there are no current plans for the airport to sell branded merchandise. Any promotional items provided by the airport are distributed at no cost and are procured through the county’s standard procurement process,” she says. That leaves the vendor-approval clause largely a moot point for now. Whether the clause reaches independent concessionaires selling their own Trump-branded goods, and who signs off on those items, remains unresolved.

stadium features four aviation-themed neighborhoods, a main entrance styled like an airport terminal, a luggage carousel bar and a P-38 airplane display. This strategy allows Ontario International Airport (ONT) to leverage its IATA brand code outside the terminal environment to drive visibility. By placing its identifier on a high-traffic community hub, the airport strengthens local engagement across Southern California without depending on inside-the-terminal corporate sponsors. OIAA leadership views the move as an investment in regional identity. Different Playing Fields Federal law requires airport revenue to stay within airport operations and capital projects, which rules out the kind of open-ended sponsorship deals venues such as stadiums can sign. Add in airline operations, passenger wayfinding,

CAK, and Camacho ties the initiative directly to that trend, saying the team wants to plan proactively for future needs. While the request for proposals concluded in late May, Camacho and his team are taking time to select the right partners and at press time had not made a selection. Reverse Naming Rights In July, Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) formally approved a naming rights agreement that flips the traditional airport sponsorship model. Rather than selling terminal real estate to private corporations, the authority secured external naming rights for the City of Ontario’s new 6,000-seat sports venue, officially branding the facility ONT Field . The venue serves as home to the Ontario Tower Buzzers, the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Designed as an immersive gateway experience, the

procurement rules and political oversight, and the regulatory landscape looks nothing like what a typical sponsor deal navigates elsewhere. Airports are still working through the basic questions, and progress so far has been slow. Part of the holdup comes down to internal coordination, according to a spokesperson for Clear Channel, the media and advertising company that runs airport advertising programs across the country. “Achieving a major sponsorship deal requires alignment across commercial, CX, operations, marketing, wayfinding and procurement teams guided by centralized leadership,” the spokesperson says. “Without that internal alignment, even willing sponsors face processes that could discourage commitment.” The airports that stay flexible with existing advertising partners while staying commercially responsive will be best positioned once deals start moving.

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AX NEWS SEPTEMBER 2026