We Just Got Closer to a Dolly Parton International Airport

Nashville's main airport is getting closer to swapping its code-name cachet for a country icon. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport officials said on Friday that they intended to rechristen BNA as Dolly Parton International Airport, a move spurred by a Change.org petition that had amassed nearly 165,000 signatures as of Saturday morning, and encouraged by a plane towing a banner promoting the name change and flying over the state Capitol, per the Tennessean. Parton's team has signaled it's open to talks, calling the proposal touching, according to Lee's office.

The change isn't a done deal: Airport policy currently requires honorees to have been dead at least two years and to have contributed to aviation or the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, rules that the authority will revisit on Sept. 17, per the Tennessean. A 2025 study pegged rebranding costs at about $10.3 million for new signage, a redesigned monument, and contract updates, among other necessities. If the airport does end up getting renamed, Parton would be the first woman whose moniker is slapped on one of America's 50 busiest airports, notes the AP.