WHAT TO KNOW
- Why Nashville's airport code, BNA, has nothing to do with the city's name in the first place.
- How Palm Beach's recent renaming for Trump, and Las Vegas's for Harry Reid, offer two very different precedents for what a change could look like.
- Why the final decision would ultimately rest with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, not the airport authority itself.
A petition to rename Nashville International Airport (BNA) after Dolly Parton is receiving renewed attention after the death of the beloved singer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist was announced on Tuesday following a short battle with cancer.
The petition was actually started around two years ago by Lydia Popovich on Change.org, amassing around 40,000 signatures within 12 months. But after news of Dolly’s death spread around the world, the number of people who had signed the petition swelled to more than 70,000.
Explaining why she thinks BNA should be renamed Nashville Dolly Parton International Airport, Popovich wrote: “It is only fitting that an institution as significant as Nashville International Airport carries the name of such a remarkable woman.”
“Dolly has made substantial impacts on thousands of lives, especially through her Imagination Library program, which has gifted over 100 million books to children since it began in 1995. Dolly’s philanthropic efforts, her outstanding influence in the music industry, and the love she has instilled in our hearts through her actions and songs truly make her a deserving candidate to have the Nashville International Airport named after her.”
Nashville International Airport is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, which officially markets the airport under its three-letter code, which is designated by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA).
In many cases, the three-letter code matches the city names, such as SFO for San Francisco, ATL for Atlanta, and DUB for Dublin. Of course, BNA doesn’t follow that convention at all. Instead, the airport acquired its three-letter code because it was originally called Berry Field, named after Colonel Harry S. Berry, a Tennessee lawmaker who was instrumental in getting the airport built.
Changing an airport name is most definitely not without precedent.
In July, Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) in Florida was officially renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport after Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law that allows the state to name major commercial airports.
In this case, the three-letter code was changed from PBI to DJT, a decision that initially caused some confusion.
Usually, however, the IATA three-letter airport code remains the same even if the full name of an airport is changed. In 2021, for example, Las Vegas changed the name of its airport from McCarran International Airport to Harry Reid International Airport. The airport decided to keep its distinctive LAS airport code.
A name change at Nashville International Airport would ultimately come down to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who wrote on his official X account: “Dolly Parton was one of a kind, who loved people, her work, her family, and her Lord. Tennessee has forever been changed – enhanced – by her, and will never be quite the same without Dolly.”
Lee announced that flags would be lowered statewide in memory of Parton – known across the state as Tennessee’s favorite daughter.
The change.org petition can be signed here.
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Like the Louis Armstrong international Airport in New Orleans, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport, Theodore LaGuardia in New York, Nashville should strongly consider the re-naming of its airport to a lady that did many things to uplift people’s spirit by her mere presence and “can do” attitude. May she and all of the saints rest in peace!