I really hope no one decides to name Nashville International Airport after a country music legend:

Would we have bumpy landings at Dolly Parton International Airport? Would you like the all-black décor of the Johnny Cash International Airport? Would the terminal in Al Gore International be unusually warm? Would a few flights be no-shows at George Jones International?

I’ve struggled to reconcile the negative elements of Nashville’s identity as Music City with the emerging reality that we are a growing and progressive city, and I don’t think naming the airport after a country star is a good idea. I have come to respect the incredible amount of talent here in town and to acknowledge that there is a great deal of great music, plenty of it country, written and recorded here.

That said, we are extremely well known for our musical pedigree, and unfortunately that sometimes means that the pejorative pieces of that legacy are what people elsewhere choose to focus on. Naming one of the front doors of our community, the airport, after someone who will only reinforce that image doesn’t help the city in the long run. Let’s name it after Dick Fulton, Phil Bredesen, Bill Purcell or Ross Alderman instead.

[Full disclosure: My employer works on behalf of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. I have no involvement with that work; I just think the suggestions referenced above are poor choices for an airport name.]