BERLIN, Md. - Aviation companies, like those at the Ocean City Municipal Airport, suffered heavy profit losses last year.
With summer months approaching, people are starting to think about vacation plans, which likely includes the president.
President Joe Biden owns a vacation home in Rehoboth Beach. If he plans a visit at any point throughout the summer months, almost every aviation business at the Ocean City airport would be grounded, says manager Jaime Giandomenico.
"So as written..the banner planes wouldn't fly. The skydivers wouldn't fly and there's no primary flight instruction inside the ring if you want to call it that. The security umbrella," Giandomenico says.
This is due to what's known as a Presidential Temporary Flight Restriction. The TFR creates a 30-nautical mile wide circle of restricted airspace. This TFR could stretch laterally from Ocean City, Maryland to Ocean City, New Jersey.
As to how often this could happen, Giandomenico says there are "three missing pieces".
"The activation, duration and frequency," Giandomenico says, "we don't know too far in advance, for obvious security reasons. The same with the frequency. It could be every weekend. Everybody likes the shore in the summer time. And the duration."
Luckily, if you're learning to fly at the Ocean City airport during any TFRs, you will be able to take to the skies.
Mike Freed, who runs Ocean Aviation, says, given the airport's location, his students can easily fly out of the restricted airspace. "Based on the information we've received, we can fly within a couple of minutes and be out of the area and do our normal training. So we do not expect any impact from this.
Giandomenico says the TFR around the president's Rehoboth home has not been stood up; meaning some things are still in the works.
Commercial flights from the Salisbury Regional Airport will not be affected. Small public airports, however, like Ocean City or Georgetown will be accessible during TFRs. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Secret Service must be able to identify any aircraft flying in and out of the TFR.
