Laura Beebe, Airport Director, Palm Beach International Airport

No longer just a seasonal market to spend the winters, the Palm Beach market’s status as Wall Street of the South, combined with continuous population and business growth, is transforming the region as a year-long air service destination. In an interview with Invest:, Laura Beebe, airport director for Palm Beach International Airport, highlighted the airport’s effort to grow with the county and how it is supporting the air service needs for businesses, tourists and residents alike. “We are seeing less seasonality and increased frequency. These are all great trends for our airport,” Beebe added.

How has the increasing population in South Florida impacted the airport’s operations?
We have seen exponential growth in passenger traffic. Before the COVID era, our highwater mark was approximately 7 million passengers yearly. We are now closer to 8.5 million year over year. This is about an 8% increase over the prior year. There is increased passenger activity, which is closely related to the growing population in Palm Beach County. There have been many businesses relocating into Palm Beach County and many residents who have a second home in the county as well. The growth happening across different sectors has helped spur the demand for air service.

What is the airport’s economic impact on the local economy?
We are one of the largest economic engines in Palm Beach County. We contribute billions of dollars to the local economy. This is in terms of jobs and air service provided, as well as the indirect impact when people come into the county, mostly through hotel and tourism revenue. General aviation is key to our airport, which spurs additional economic activity.

What separates Palm Beach International Airport from other airports in the state?
As it relates to passengers, it is the convenience available to them. Passengers love to use our airport because it is convenient and easy. It is easy to get from the parking lot to the gate. Of course, during peak time it could be a little slower. We aim to provide a comfortable experience for our passengers as compared to other airports where it could be a little more stressful. In terms of the airlines, we are one of the lowest cost airports in South Florida for the airlines, which helps the airlines provide additional services. All in all, we are a very popular destination. Additionally, 65% of our traffic is private general aviation, and not necessarily small aircraft but larger, corporate aircrafts. All of these businesses settling into the county like to use Palm Beach International Airport as their home. This provides a unique opportunity for businesses to maintain their aircraft at the airport close to where their businesses are located.

What trends are you paying attention to in the aviation space?
We have seen good trends happening in Palm Beach County. We are seeing the airlines bringing in larger aircraft. We are becoming less seasonal, the airlines are looking at the Palm Beach market as a year-round destination. Last year, for the first time ever, we had year-round service to Chicago, for example. Similarly, service to Houston has been seasonal, but this year, it will be a year-round service. We are seeing less seasonality and increased frequencies. These are all great trends for our airport. In terms of air service generally, there seems to be growing uncertainty f due to the current economic climate. Airlines are adjusting their forecasts and evaluating what their networks will look like in the next six months or so. We really will not have a clear picture until later this year as to what those impacts might be or if we will see passengers pull back their discretionary spending. The good news for us is that our passengers are a bit less price-sensitive as they tend to be a little bit older and more affluent.

What capital projects are slated to improve airport operations?
We have an older terminal that was built in the 1980s and with the increasing passenger growth, we are in the midst of modernizing the facilities. We are in the final phase of our concourse B expansion project, which will provide additional gates and concession spaces. We recently started another project to provide a post-security connection concourses A,B, and C, which will provide additional post-security space for passengers to spread out and be more comfortable. We are also replacing all of our restaurants and shops within the airport. The Board of County Commissioners just approved new concession agreements and improvements are anticipated to happen over the next three years. We have a lot of projects going on to continue to improve the customer experience. This will be a lot of work, which will be well worth it once it is completed.

What challenges come with making infrastructure improvements?
Cost escalation is a real issue and will be a continuing issue. This has been a challenge since the COVID era. When we started our concourse B project, it had an estimated budget of $42 million. Coming out of COVID, the project is now at $139 million and no additional work was added to the project. This increase was due to cost escalation. I believe we will continue to see this pressure. We definitely have our work cut out for us to make sure that we are keeping up with the demand and the need to make the infrastructure improvements. Thankfully, we received federal and state grants, which has allowed us to continue with our projects. We have other big projects in the preliminary phases, including an airfield expansion project to help us keep pace with the increased demand in the future. This is a multiyear project, which is expected to take a decade to complete.

What factors are helping shape the Palm Beach market into a year-long destination?
It has been a combination of different factors. Part of the reason why this market is becoming a year-round destination is due to the population growth, and there are increased connections with other parts of the country. When we meet with the airlines, we emphasize the population growth and the number of individuals who have second homes as well as the growth of businesses in the county, and what these factors mean in terms of air service. These factors go hand in hand. The growth has helped us refine our story and demonstrate to the airlines that this market can support year-round service. For example, with American Airlines, they agreed to continue Chicago service through the summer months, which gave them their highest load factor. Flights were 95% full. In terms of load factors for an airline, this is very good, which in turn encouraged them to increase frequencies in our market.

What are the goals for the airport in the near term?
We look forward to completing the projects that we have in place. We want to make sure that the customer experience remains good while the construction continues and to make sure that we expand our air service in the airport. We want to increase the number of nonstop destinations, which is a never-ending goal.