Renaming Airports

Skip7966 · Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:14 pm

I refuse to call DCA Reagan International, and I will absolutely never call IAH Bush International.

Ronald Reagan should never have an airport named after him, or anything air related, let alone the airport in the nations capital!!!! That airport will never be known to me as anything but Washington National. Perhaps if there was a person worthy I'd change my mind, but for now it's still DCA.

I thought they waited until a president was dead to name an airport after them, so when they said IAH was now Bush International I thought I'd gone to heaven! It's too bad IAH has more than one terminal, calling it Bush would be more appropriate if it had only one term.

Here in Seattle we re-named SEA Jackson International for about a week or two until we changed it back to Sea-Tac and named some government building downtown after Scoop Jackson instead.

Delta767300ER · Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:37 pm

I agree. ATL has now been re-named Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l Airport. It pisses me off, it will always be Hartsfield to me (and a lot of us)

-Delta767300ER

Bigfoot · Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:57 pm

The Surcin airport in Belgrade BEG, now simply denominated "Beograd", after reconstruction (the terminal 2 should be ready by summer 2004) will probably take the name of Zoran Djindjic, the PM of Serbia assasinated in March 2003.
I think he deserves it!

BF

InnocuousFox · Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:00 pm

Jeezus... someone is kinda bitter, eh? Insane

airsicknessbag · Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:18 pm

So... if you refuse to recognise airport´s name changes... How are you going to call Bagdad Saddam International Airport (SDA)? Laugh out loud

Daniel

Av8rDAL · Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:50 pm

I'm with Delta767300ER. I'm really getting tired of Atlanta politicians, even though I live in Athens.

Long Live Hartsfield!!

-Brian

ushermittwoch · Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:54 pm

It's GB Intercontinental anyway...

Let's wait and see if DFW will be called "George W. Bush International" soon...

Aviationman · Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:11 am

Montreal Dorval was just renamed (Jan 1st 04) Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International (A famous Canadian politician/former "premier ministre" of the country). I agree with the new name but many people don't / won't. Who cares? Who cares about the name of the airport you are flying to/from? Who cares about YQB being "Jean Lesage" airport, YXE being "John Defienbaker" airport? What difference does it make? I'm flying from Montreal, Saskatoon, Toronto, etc.... Not from Defienbaker, Lesage, Trudeau.

tokolosh · Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:17 am

My father once said something echoed by some postings here which I totally agree with. Airports, street names, squares, buildings, ships, etc, etc, should not be named after living people. Let the dust settle a bit so we have a better historic perspective upon which to decide whether a particular person is deserves it!

iflyatldl · Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:40 am

Here in ATL, to me it will always be Heartsfield, just like YUL will always be DORVAL. Some things you just don't change- unless it's dirty underwear! Big grin

That being said, since they named an airport after Trudeau, why don't they name one after Bianca Jagger? Big grin

Sorry, the whole name change thing always gets under my .....

airbusfanyyz · Sun Jan 11, 2004 4:37 am

Trudeau was one of the greatest PM's in Canada IMO. Are all the protests because Trudeau doesn't deserve to have that honour, or is it because Dorval doesn't deserve the honour? hmmm.

Cheers,
Kaz

jm017 · Sun Jan 11, 2004 5:00 am

I agree with Tokolosh. I also think it's an insult to rename an airport TWICE. It's an insult to the memory of the person originally commemorated (i.e. renaming Hartsfield as Hartsfield-Jackson).

In this day and age, the whole renaming thing is annoying and goes well beyond airports. Everytime i go home to New York, a stretch of road is renamed for someone.

I am an old timer: ATL will always be Hartsfield, YUL will always be Dorval and so on...

FlyCaledonian · Sun Jan 11, 2004 6:09 am

Well I think we were lucky here in the UK that LHR was not renamed London Diana, Princess of Wales International, or similar! Thankfully the only airport (so far) in the UK named after a person is Liverpool John Lennon. Actually quite like that. Where an airport is well known changing the name is strange to me.

LHR001 · Sun Jan 11, 2004 6:10 am

The joke is San Jose.... Now named for Norman Mineta....

LHR001

alcregular · Sun Jan 11, 2004 6:54 am

In the UK, Teesside Airport has been re-named as Durham Tees Valley Airport, to everyone else, it will still be Teesside Airport. What is the ppiont of re-namng it people are going to continue with the old name?

Plane Holland · Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:04 am

Bonaire "Flamingo" airport has been renamed to "Princess Amalia" airport. This because of the birth of HRH Princess Amalia of the Netherlands.

I don't have a problem with it. I think it's nice/better actually.

Do the voters of a certain president have a problem with renaming the airport after the president they voted for?

regards, Plane Holland

PSAjet17 · Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:31 am

The joke is San Jose.... Now named for Norman Mineta....

Every time I see it refered to as San Jose - Mineta, I think I am looking at some airport in Central or South America.

PSAjet17 · Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:37 am

So far we have escaped that here in Phoenix. They tried to rename Sky Harbor after a much loved man, Barry Goldwater. Public sentiment was too much in favor of Sky Harbor as being a very wonderful and unique name for our airport so they ended up naming Terminal 4 as the Goldwater Terminal.

lyzzard · Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:42 am

In South Korea, Kimpo International (SEL) was renamed Gimpo after the new international airport at Incheon (ICN) was opened. The new name sounds like that black leather clad sex slave from Pulp Fiction.

JUANR · Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:43 am

Well, a little bit off-topic, but still, I am glad that my home airport is not named after anybody, "El Dorado" it is called after the treasures that conquers came to look at for.

Juan
SKBO

MIA777 · Sun Jan 11, 2004 7:43 am

Montreal Dorval was just renamed (Jan 1st 04) Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International

I've noticed that the website is really pushing for the public to use this name rather than Dorval...

InnocuousFox · Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:03 pm

This, of course, is a major commercial trend with atheletic stadiums... and when it came up to possibly have a corporate sponsor on Chicago's renovated Soldier Field, it was IMMEDIATELY AND ENTIRELY quashed! They basically said that they were not going to insult the military it was built to memorialize by slapping a "bought" name on it. So that's one example of doing something the right way!

robsawatsky · Sun Jan 11, 2004 2:59 pm

They (the former PM Chretien lead liberal party of Canada) originally wanted to rename Mt. Logan after Trudeau but after significant public dissent I guess they had to settle for an airport.

MrFord · Sun Jan 11, 2004 3:54 pm

I agree, I like to call the airport the way I do normally.

Dorval=Dorval Smile

But... if you like to call the airports from their common name, do you still call John F. Kennedey Intl. "New York - Idlewild (IDL)", or O'Hare Intl. "Orchard Field" ? Big thumbs up

tungd · Sun Jan 11, 2004 4:09 pm

IAH is my home airport, and I used to proudly call it George Bush Intercontinental Airport-Houston, as did most of the 5+ million people who live in the Greater Houston area.

Skip7966's original post assumes that he/she is from Seattle, which of course has a far more enlightened, progressive, and caring populace than those of us who live in back-woods Texas. Thus it doesn't bother me that Skip7966 referred to Houston's largest airport as "Bush International," because only the backwards residents of Texas would use such a silly name as "Intercontinental."

And after reading the above posts, I realize that we've all been "hood-winked" and "brain-washed" by naming our airport after an Evil Republican!

LONG LIVE DENNIS KUCINICH!!!!!!!

Skip7966 · Sun Jan 11, 2004 6:42 pm

Sorry, I forgot about the stupid Intercontinental name. Who thought of that? Have to love a state that elects a governor whose true home is Maine. Then again, New Yorkers must love Arkansas natives. What I was getting at in my original post was, DON'T name airports after people that don't deserve the recongnition!!

InnocuousFox · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:04 am

"DON'T name airports after people that don't deserve the recongnition!!"

Which is an entirely subjective test now, isn't it?

PVD757 · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:19 am

"LONG LIVE DENNIS KUCINICH"????????????????

Anyways, I'm waiting for the corporate thing to kick like the stadiums are sponsored by Gillette, Enron, Ford, etc. What would some of the airports be like then?

Aviationman · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:25 am

Trudeau was born and raised in Montreal. The Dorval YUL airport deserves his name. I am proud of being a YUL, Trudeau's user.

texan · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:35 am

Tungd:
Good comeback, although as a fellow Texan (albeit from DAL), I still just refer to it as Intercontinental.
Skip7966:
Liberal as I am, George H.W. Bush was an integral part of the Houston community for a long time. He fought hard for what his constituents wanted, and he often succeeded. The Southeast Texas region is generally very conservative. The people down there wanted to honor someone who had fought hard for their causes, and Bush was, in their eyes, the most deserving. Just because we disagree with someone's politics does not mean that they did not adequately represent their constituency and help out their region. That's why I fully expect to see Midland/Odessa Airport renamed George W. Bush eventually, as he was a pillar in the community for a long time.
Why airports are named after politicians at all is beyond me. People will never agree on whether or not a certain politician deserved the honor. Course, honestly, if they named something at MSP after Paul Wellstone or BTV Burlington-Dean International Airport, I wouldn't complain too much Smile

Texan

iflyatldl · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:39 am

For that matter so was Celine Dion and William Shatner Big grin

Aviationman · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:45 am

That's a good idea........Celine Dion's Las Vegas International Airport....Or "Le cirque du Soleil" LAS Int'l airport. After all, it's because of them that Las Vegas is living again. If it was not of them.......

lparky · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:52 am

Nice response, Tungd

Maybe they should rename Sea-tac after Clinton...there's a deserving president... at least that should appease Skip.

On a related note, one of the local Houston news stations referred to IAH as BIA...

OzarkD9S · Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:55 am

I find it crass that politicians honor each other by naming airports after other politicians. On the other hand, naming airports after people like John Lennon or Louis Armstrong, talented individuals who are still entertaining people long after their lives are over, doesn't bother me in the slightest.

delta-flyer · Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:16 am

Sorry, I forgot about the stupid Intercontinental name. Who thought of that? Have to love a state that elects a governor whose true home is Maine. Then again, New Yorkers must love Arkansas natives. What I was getting at in my original post was, DON'T name airports after people that don't deserve the recongnition!!

And I thought this was an aviation forum. How stupid of me ....

Pete

tungd · Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:19 pm

Thanks Texan, you make a great point.

I wouldn't care at all if SEA, MSP, BTV, DCA, DAL, MAF, etc. were named after someone who was important to the LOCAL community, whether they be Democrat, Republican, Green, Black, White, Yellow, Blue, Orange, etc....

The opinion of someone who lives in Seattle complaining about the name of airports located in Washington, DC, and Houston, TX, means nothing to me. So why did I even bother to reply in the first place? Good question...lol

BTW Texan, most people in Houston refer to IAH simply as Bush, and of course HOU is called Hobby (wow, another politician).

robsawatsky · Tue Jan 13, 2004 5:25 am

"Trudeau was born and raised in Montreal. The Dorval YUL airport deserves his name. I am proud of being a YUL, Trudeau's user."

Since the word "deserves" can be taken with either a positive or negative connotation I think your statement will suit those of all political stripes.

Not sure what to make of the "proud" though.

Anyway, I don't think anything should be named after politicians until they've been dead for a decade or so.

MD80Nut · Tue Jan 13, 2004 6:06 am

Yeah, I too hate it when undeserving people get airports named after them. Especially that over rated womanizing slut who's family fortune came from his father's long and profitable association with organized crime figures from Diamond Joe Esposito and Al Capone to Sam Giancana and Frank Costello. You know, they named a New York airport after him.

That's why it will always be Idlewild to me. Innocent

srbmod · Tue Jan 13, 2004 7:58 am

Several years back, Ben DeCosta, the GM of ATL actually proposed selling naming rights out @ ATL. I could have imagined it as such:

T-Gates brought to you by T-Mobile
Concourse A: Coca-Cola Concourse
Concourse B: Home Depot Concourse
Concourse C: Holiday Inn Concourse
Concourse D: Time-Warner Concourse
Concourse E: The UPS International Concourse

Skip7966 · Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:11 pm

IAH being called Bush doesn't bother me as much as Washington National being called Reagan. He crushed the ATC union and they name an airport after him?

BTW, I forgot... DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!!! I used to live in Alice and did my flying out of CRP and SAT. I kind of miss that open air terminal at CRP.

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