In 1941, Oklahoma City Municipal Airport (OKC) was renamed in honor of Oklahoma native and Cherokee Indian Will Rogers. Rogers was a legendary cowboy, actor, writer, and comedian who died in Alaska in 1935 during a plane crash with famed aviator Wiley Post.
Now, Will Rogers World Airport, Oklahoma’s busiest airport, is changing its name again.
The new name, recently approved by the Oklahoma City City Council, will be “OKC Will Rogers International Airport.”
Why the change of identity?
“Promotion of the airport and the community prompted the name and logo change,” Oklahoma City Airports Director Jeff Mulder said in a statement. Adding “OKC” and “international” to the name will help promote the airport to airlines and businesses around the world, he added.
After a 2021 terminal expansion and website revamp, the airport was looking for “a more modern feel,” OKC spokeswoman Stacey Hamm said. “We felt it was time to also go through a branding process to update the entire airport.” That included reevaluating the airport’s name, she added.
The airport hired Nominee Design, a branding firm that spent three months researching and visiting airports similar in size to OKC’s. The firm conducted surveys and interviews with passengers as well as state and community leaders.
Surveys and interviews included questions about removing “Will Rogers” from the airport’s name.
“Some people said they didn’t know who he was and that it would be okay if his name wasn’t included,” Hamm said. But because of Rogers’ connection to Oklahoma, they decided to keep his name and “focus more on his contributions to aviation rather than the cowboy and highlight OKC in the name,” he added.
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How about adding the word “international” to the name of the airport?
OKC currently has no international flights on its route map. However, the airport is building an international customs facility that should be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to Hamm. The airport is also in talks with two airlines to offer nonstop routes to Cancun and other destinations in Mexico.
“We hope to hear something soon,” he said.
While the new name will emphasize, rather than alter, the airport’s three-letter code (OKC), there are costs associated with the rebranding.
In addition to the branding company’s fees ($160,000), the old name is used in many places, including the airport’s website, state highway signs and throughout airport property.
A new OKC website is scheduled to launch in November featuring “new brand colors, new name branding and other brand elements,” Hamm said.
While there is no official count of what it will cost to complete the airport-wide name change, the estimate for updating the current entrance sign alone is approximately $17,000.
Other airports have changed their names
OKC is not the only airport that has undergone a rebranding in an effort to attract more airlines and passengers.
In California, the Oakland Port Commissioners Board voted to change the name from Oakland Metropolitan International Airport (OAK) to San Francisco Bay International Airport in Oakland last May.
He purpose of that name change “The goal is to attract more nonstop destinations by increasing travelers’ geographic awareness of the airport’s location in the San Francisco Bay Area,” the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners said.
However, in response to Oakland’s airport name change, San Francisco’s city attorney filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against the city of Oakland. Doug Yakel, a spokesman for San Francisco International Airport (SFO), said the lawsuit is still ongoing.
In Nevada, McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas was officially renamed Harry Reid International Airport in December 2021 to honor the former U.S. senator.
Additionally, Louisville International Airport (SDF) in Kentucky was renamed Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in 2019 in honor of boxing champion and Louisville native Muhammad Ali.
However, efforts to rename Nashville International Airport (BNA) after Oprah Winfrey and Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) Fred Rogers International Airport after children’s television host Mister Rogers have been unsuccessful.
