Tennessee Governor Announces Plan to Rename Nashville Airport in Honor of Dolly Parton
Sometimes a cliche is just true — it really couldn’t happen to a nicer girl.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Friday announced plans to name Nashville International Airport after the country music icon whose music, acting, and larger-than-life personality became a national institution.
And from Lee’s telling, it couldn’t be more fitting.
“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” he said in a news release. “From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her.”
Parton died Tuesday in Nashville at the age of 80.
Since then, tributes have poured in from around the world. President Donald Trump ordered flags on federal property to fly at half-staff for a week in mourning, USA Today reported.
But Lee and top officials at the airport — which goes by the call sign “BNA” — are looking at something more permanent.
“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,” Doug Kreulen, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, said in a statement.
“Dolly’s remarkable legacy reminds us that what makes Nashville special is our ability to welcome people from every walk of life. She understood that dignity, kindness and opportunity should never be defined by where you come from or your socioeconomic status. At BNA, we share that commitment.”
The airport opened in 1937 as Berry Field Nashville, named after Col. Harry S. Berry, a decorated veteran of Army service in both World Wars who served during the 1930s as the Roosevelt administration’s Works Progress Administration’s administrator for Tennessee.
(Yes, that’s where the “B” in BNA comes from.)
It wasn’t clear exactly how the airport might be renamed in Parton’s honor, or if Berry’s name would still be attached some way. WSMV-TV in Nashville reported Friday that the Metro Nashville Airport Authority will start to hash out details at a Sept. 17 meeting.
But it appears plenty of people agree the name is a good idea.
As of Friday afternoon, a petition on Change.org supporting the name change had more than 157,000 signatures.
And, allowing for the naysayers that are always going to be present (and some jokes of questionable taste), the social media reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
Absolutely the right move! Thank you Governor Lee.
— The Tennessee Conservatives Coalition (@TNCCoalition) August 28, 2026
We Will Always Love And Never Forget You Dolly Parton! @DollyParton pic.twitter.com/sD4Lv2hKqB
— ╰☆╮ There’s No Place Like Home Earth ╰☆╮ (@SolBorinquen) August 28, 2026
Today, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport® (BNA®), announced their intent to name BNA in honor of Dolly Parton.
Read more here: https://t.co/x1DLDKrNNC pic.twitter.com/2XYWlU0HNC
— Fly Nashville (@Fly_Nashville) August 28, 2026
With the plan, Parton would join ranks with fewer than 100 others who have airports bearing their name. Most are from the world of power and politics, of course, such as Donald J. Trump International in Palm Beach County, Florida; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside Washington, D.C.; or Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas.
But cultural icons are represented among some airport names, too, such as Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.
That’s the kind of company that Parton fans — in their countless legions — would say she more than merits.
And Lee is clearly one of those fans.
“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,” he said in the release.
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