Political leaders in Las Vegas determined it’s time to take a gamble while they’re down in traffic count and play the high stakes marketing game of renaming the airport.
McCarren International is no more. Clark County leaders decided in February it’s time to boot the name honoring the late Sen. Pat McCarran, a man who championed aviation, but conversely, hardline antisemitism.
Leaders decided to name the airport Harry Reid International Airport after the former senator noted more for passionately milquetoast speeches on the floor of the Senate than social construct worldviews that tickle the pharyngeal reflex.
The move will cost an estimated $5-$7 million. Removing the name of a noted admirer of Generalissimo Francisco Franco from an airport seems like money well spent, but this is an aviation marketing move, which is never for the faint of heart.
A petition on Change.org gathered more than 20,000 signatures asking Clark County to reconsider the name change and simply rename the airport Las Vegas International Airport. It’s easy to dismiss this as either political skullduggery on the pettiest of levels or a gaggle of people who spend their days sweating over the name and gender of an inanimate plastic tuber that’s otherwise enjoyed mostly by young children.
Or they might have a point. Why does it need to be named after anyone? Isn’t the city name good enough?
Airport name change proposals always bring controversy. Just ask your colleagues in St. Louis, Santa Ana or Burbank. Some are easy to justify. Others might seem archaic because no one knows who the airport is named after. You don’t learn about Albert Bond Lambert or Billy Mitchell in school, but you do fly in and out of facilities named after them without thinking twice who they even were.
But try and drop the name and you’ll find yourself in trouble with a local activist group or two.
Clark County’s move is the right one, but it’s worth a hard look on naming the airport after the city before sinking at least $5 million into the change. If you’re thinking about renaming your airport to honor someone, make sure to really do your homework on them. Or, better yet, find an administrative meeting room or drinking fountain outside the public purview to slap their name on.
But whatever you do, don’t let the public decide. Just ask the Minnesota Department of Transportation about Plowy McPlowFace.
