The long-simmering debate over whether John Wayne’s name is appropriate for Orange County’s airport has boiled up again.
In an era when racial injustice is back in the spotlight, the county’s Democratic Party — and others — now want the actor’s name off the facility for offensive remarks made a half-century ago. It became John Wayne Airport in 1979 after the Newport Beach resident’s death.
Let me start by saying I think airports and the surrounding tourism industry are best served when a name tells a traveler where they’re going. So, I fully support the 2017 decision to turn Bob Hope Airport into Hollywood Burbank Airport to help boost its business.
Yes, Orange County Airport — the facility’s old name — would be swell for marketing purposes … even if the person whose name and statue grace the airport is unworthy of the honor.
My quick review of major U.S. passenger airports shows having a luminary’s name in an airport monicker is fairly common. But let me add that these folks feted at 39 airports across the nation seem more worthy today of such an honor than Wayne’s complicated legacy in a very changed Orange County.
Let me start with what I see as the most fitting examples — airports named for military aviators killed while flying …
Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport (Texas): Astronaut who died in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Dallas Love Field: Named for military pilot Moss L. Love, killed in a 1913 plane crash.
Bradley International Airport (Windsor Locks, Conn.): Lt. Eugene M. Bradley, an Army pilot killed in a 1941 crash when the site was a military base.
McGhee Tyson Airport (Knoxville, Tenn.): Military pilot Charles McGhee Tyson, who was killed in 1918 plane crash.
And there are symbols from the battle for civil rights …
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport: Named for the civil rights attorney who became the nation’s first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (Alabama): Pastor Fred Shuttlesworth fought racism and co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Jackson-Evers International Airport (Mississippi): Medgar Evers fought education segregation and was assassinated in 1963.
Another natural naming style honors worthy aviators …
Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport (Ohio): Named for Orville and Wilbur Wright who built the first successful flying airplane.
O’Hare International Airport (Chicago): “Butch” O’Hare was a World War II Navy flying ace.
General Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee): Gen. Billy Mitchell, commanded U.S. air battle efforts in World War I.
Yeager Airport (Charleston, W.V.): Chuck Yeager’s career spanned military flight (a brigadier general) and test piloting.
Rickenbacker International Airport (Columbus, Ohio): Eddie Rickenbacker was a fighter ace in World War I as well as an accomplished auto racer.
Logan International Airport (Boston): No aviation link for this one, but war hero Gen. Edward Logan fought on the ground in the Spanish-American War and World War I.
Yes, leaders of the federal government are popular choices. Starting with the executive branch …
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (Springfield, Ill.): the 16th president.
Wichita Dwight Eisenhower National Airport (Kansas): the 34th president.
John Kennedy International Airport (New York City): the 35th president.
Gerald Ford International Airport (Grand Rapids, Mich.): the 38th president.
Ronald Reagan National Airport (Washington, D.C.): the 40th president.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston): the 41st president.
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (Little Rock, Ark.): the 42nd president and a U.S. Secretary of State.
Washington Dulles International Airport (northern Virginia): John Foster Dulles, a U.S. Secretary of State in the 1950s.
And others from the federal legislative branch …
McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas): Named for former U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran.
John Glenn Columbus International Airport (Ohio): Former U.S. senator and astronaut.
Daniel Inouye International Airport (Honolulu): Former U.S. senator.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport: Former U.S. senator.
T. F. Green Airport (Providence, R.I.): Former U.S. senator and governor, Theodore Francis Green.
John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport (Pennsylvania): Former congressman.
You can find names of state and local officials on airports, too …
William Hobby Airport (Houston): Former Texas governor.
Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport: Former Texas governor.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: Named for former mayors William Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (North Carolina): Former mayor Ben Elbert Douglas Sr.
LaGuardia Airport (New York City): Former mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport: He’s the former mayor who held U.S. Cabinet positions under presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport: William Hopkins, a ex-city manager.
Or airports named for local business leaders, folks who had some cash in the facility ….
Eppley Airfield (Omaha): Hotel owner Eugene Eppley’s estate helped pay for a facility upgrade in 1960.
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport: An aviation fan, Albert Lambert built the airport then sold it to the city in 1928.
And, finally, there’s Wayne’s entertainment world.
Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport: A pioneer in jazz and a major Black contributor to American culture.
Charles Schulz Sonoma County Airport: The cartoonist whose Black “Franklin” character in the Peanuts cartoon strip was a 1968 racial breakthrough.
Will Rogers World Airport (Oklahoma City): An entertainer and social commentator who said of his Native American heritage: “My ancestors never came over on the Mayflower, but they were there to meet the boat.” He died in a plane crash in 1935.
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