Update, 5:53 p.m.: President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon that he would skip a weekend trip to Poland and would send Vice President Mike Pence in his stead. But according to Gene Richards, director of aviation at BTV, his staff contacted the U.S. Secret Service around 4:45 p.m. and was told that Friday's plan was still a go.

Vice President Mike Pence is returning to Vermont for Labor Day weekend.

The nation’s No. 2 executive is expected to land at Burlington International Airport around 2 p.m. Friday, BTV aviation director Gene Richards said. The aircraft, which Richards said will probably not be the large jet traditionally thought of as Air Force Two, is expected to taxi to one of the Vermont Air National Guard ramps.



The airfield will be closed for 15 minutes before and after arrival, the aviation director wrote in a note to staff. The Federal Aviation Administration has instituted temporary flight restrictions at BTV from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Friday.

“It’s midday; it’s not really a big deal,” Richards said, noting that it could potentially affect a few commercial flights. “It’s the right time of the day. If he’d come real early in the morning, I’d have a real problem with him.”

During Labor Day weekend last year, Pence landed at BTV in Air Force Two and was greeted by both protesters and supporters before he spent the weekend on Lake Hortonia, which is south of Sudbury and north of Hubbardton on Route 30. Locals posted pictures with the VP during his visit, which included a stop at Calvin Coolidge's summer White House in Plymouth Notch.

The FAA has instituted flight restrictions this weekend above an area that encompasses Lake Hortonia, though it’s unclear if Pence is headed back there. His office did not respond to an email seeking comment about the trip.

Richards said Pence won’t depart from BTV. The FAA has instituted flight restrictions at the Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional Airport from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.