Every once in a while you’ll hear about an airport terminal, or even an entire airport, being proposed, and sometimes approved for a name change. Some examples have occurred at:
- An airport in New York changed its name in response to Black Lives Matter, while one in Nevada got a new name so as not to honor a leader with a long history of racist ideas.
- No long after the death of Jimmy Buffett, it was proposed to rename Key West airport after the late singer.
- San Francisco Int’l Airport’s International Terminal was approved for a name change earlier this year.
- In the aftermath of the 2020 election, there was talk of a petition to change the name of Glasgow Prestwick Airport to “Joe Biden International Airport,” in an attempt to troll ex-president Donald Trump when he’d land at Prestwick to go to his golf resort in Scotland
- For a few years, Bogota Colombia’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG) changed its name from ‘El Dorado’ (in reference to the mythical golden city in the prehispanic Americas) to ‘El Rosado’ (loosely translated to ‘the pink one’) during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Next up? Boston Logan Int’l Airport
Along the same vein, journalist Mark Leinovich has been proposing that Boston Logan be renamed for the late, great Bill Russell.
Bill Russell circa 1960 (L) and in 2011 (R). PC: Both public domain
Russell, who was in his prime was when he played center for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969, passed away in July, 2022, at the age of 88. His legacy included leading the Celtics to 11 championship titles, winning an Olympic gold medal, being named “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated, and being the first Black coach in modern professional sports. He was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2011. Bill Russell was also a long time civil rights advocate who dealt with racists and vandals.
“Naming the airport for Russell would send a powerful message about the region it serves: Boston has come a long way toward racial comity since the benighted 1960s, but its journey is ongoing, and—despite Massachusetts’s liberal bent—has taken longer than it should have,” Leibovich wrote in The Atlantic.
He added: “Airports are works in progress, like cities and people. They represent humanity going places, and, ideally, communities striving to catch up.”
The right people like the idea
The Russell family says they support renaming the airport in honor of him, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is on board, as well.
“I’m up for conversations” about honoring Russell and his career. “Bill Russell is the greatest athlete of any sport, of all time,” she said. “And so we know we have not reached what we need to do in terms of really recognizing that legacy and how important that is, and how proud we are in Boston.”
Massachusetts’ Gov. Maura Healey is also keeping the door open to rename the airport for Russell, but perhaps not quite yet.
Renaming Logan Int’l Airport would, of course, require a bill to make its way through the Legislature, which currently has less than two months left until the end of formal sessions. State lawmakers also have their hands full at the moment, with a budget, housing bond bill, economic development package, and climate legislation, among others. But Healy suggests she’s keeping the name change on the table, for a future time.
So it’s. not necessarily a done deal, but the puzzle pieces are starting to go in the right place. And in the not-too-distant future, it’s very possible you could fly to Boston and land at Bill Russell Int’l Airport.
Feature Photo (cropped): David Brossard / flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
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