Nashville Airport Renaming Proposal Would Honor Dolly Parton

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport (BNA) announced on August 28 that they intend to name the airport in honor of country music star and philanthropist Dolly Parton (80), who died three days earlier.

In the August 28 announcement, the governor said he had spoken with Parton's team, which expressed appreciation for the support and said it was open to continuing the conversation.

The proposal is not yet an approved name change. The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) will address the plan and its current naming policy at a meeting on Thursday, September 17. The announcement did not identify a proposed formal name or say whether the change would affect BNA's airport code, branding or signage.

“Dolly Parton's extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” Lee said. “From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her. At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state's favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly's music, generosity, faith, and kindness.”

MNAA to Review Its Naming Policy

A 2023 airport authority staff analysis said the naming policy adopted in 2010 allows an MNAA-owned building, space, facility or street to be named for an individual only if that person has been dead for at least two years and made a substantial personal contribution to MNAA or aviation in Middle Tennessee. The reviewed records do not expressly say how MNAA classifies a proposal to rename the airport itself.

The authority considered increasing the waiting period from two years to ten, but withdrew that change and left the 2010 policy in place. Because Parton died on August 25, the proposal would fall outside the two-year waiting period if MNAA applies that policy to the airport name. The August 28 announcement does not explain how the authority would reconcile the proposal with the policy.

Airport President and CEO Doug Kreulen tied the proposed name to the experience BNA aims to provide travelers.

“BNA is the front door to Music City, and with that comes a responsibility to reflect the very best of who we are as a community,” Kreulen said. He later added, “Whether you are boarding a private aircraft or taking your first flight, you deserve to be welcomed, respected and served with the same level of care.”

If approved, the proposal would add Nashville to other U.S. cities that have named commercial airports for public figures, including Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) and Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF).

Parton's Tennessee Legacy

Parton was born in Sevier County, Tennessee, on January 19, 1946. She rose from poverty in the Great Smoky Mountains to become one of country music's best-known singers and songwriters. Her publicist said she died of cancer in Nashville on August 25.

Her work in Tennessee extended beyond music and Dollywood. Parton created the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to support educational outcomes in her home county. The foundation says its Buddy Program helped reduce the dropout rate among two participating classes from 35% to 6%.

The foundation launched Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Sevier County in 1995. The program mails free books every month to enrolled children from birth to age five, regardless of family income, and later expanded internationally.

MNAA said more details about the airport proposal would be announced in the coming weeks. Until the authority addresses its policy and the proposal on September 17, Nashville International Airport remains the airport's official name.