What's in a name? Akron-Canton-Cleveland Airport?
Posted on 05/01/2007
I don’t know if know if any of you have caught some of the recent airport name changes but they have been very interesting! Recently the airport in Manchester, NH changed its name to the Manchester Boston Regional Airport. The Worcester, Mass. Airport is changing its name to the Worcester, Boston Airport. Other airports either considering a names change or in the process are the Rockford, IL Airport (switching to the Rockford Chicago Airport) and the Stewart Newburg Airport (changing their name to include the New York Area). What’s driving these changes? It’s not for local pride. It’s to let the world know you’re close to the well-known big city your airport is next to!
In the case of Manchester NH, it is close to Boston; Rockford is close to Chicago. So they are saying to the world, to the folks in Dallas, LA, Denver: “If you are flying to Boston, try flying into Manchester.” People in Dallas and LA may never of heard of Manchester, but they sure know where Boston is!
In my recent speaking engagements I’ve had several people suggest that we ADD Cleveland to our name, so that people who live in the rest of the country could identify us with the bigger city in the region. I’ve even had one guy suggest to me that we rename the airport the “South Cleveland Airport.”
I’m really not in favor of these name changes, but the concept is not unique and there is good reasoning behind the other airports’ name changes. We like our name just the way it is!
