Dolly Parton Nashville Airport: Tennessee Governor Backs Plan to Rename BNA After Country Music Icon 

It’s the kind of tribute that seems almost inevitable once you say it out loud: Nashville International Airport, renamed for the woman who put Tennessee on the map for half the world. On August 28, Governor Bill Lee and airport officials floated the idea publicly, just days after Dolly Parton’s death at 80 sent a wave of grief through the state and beyond. Lee didn’t mince words about why he thinks it fits; he talked about how deeply her life is tied to Tennessee’s identity, and how the airport itself is the first thing millions of visitors see when they land in the state. Her music, her generosity, the way she carried herself all of it, he said, makes her the right name to put on that front door. He’s apparently already brought the idea to Parton’s team, who’ve responded warmly and seem willing to keep talking about it.

So what would it actually be called?

Nothing’s locked in yet. The name getting the most buzz among fans is “Dolly Parton International Airport” , a push that actually started as an online petition back in January 2025, long before her passing, but which exploded afterward. By late August, it had pulled in more than 150,000 signatures. There’s a wrinkle, though: the airport already goes by BNA, short for Berry Field Nashville Airport, and that designation carries its own history. Officials will need to work out how a new public-facing name would coexist with that.

Timeline

Nothing happens overnight here. The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has a meeting set for September 17, 2026, where they’re expected to take up both the proposal and their existing rules around naming facilities including a policy that restricts naming things after people who’ve died too recently. That rule alone could complicate how fast this moves.

Why her, specifically

Parton’s story is well-worn but still remarkable: she grew up poor in Sevier County and built herself into one of the most recognizable entertainers on the planet, singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman without ever really cutting ties to home. Her charitable work looms just as large in this conversation, especially the Imagination Library, run through the Dollywood Foundation, which has put free books into the hands of millions of kids. It’s that combination of the music, the business savvy, the philanthropy, and the fact that she never stopped being from Tennessee that’s driving the argument that this is bigger than just slapping a celebrity’s name on a building.

What it would mean for the city

Nashville’s whole brand is “Music City,” and there’s arguably no artist more tied to Tennessee’s musical soul than Parton. MNAA’s CEO, Doug Kreulen, called the airport the “front door to Music City” and framed her legacy as matching the airport’s own mission of welcoming people from everywhere. There’s an obvious branding upside too: every domestic and international traveler arriving in Nashville would see her name the moment they land. For the people pushing this, that’s part of the appeal: you wouldn’t just fly into Nashville, you’d arrive through something named after her.

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What’s Actually Been Decided 

For now, it’s still Nashville International Airport BNA and stays that way until the Airport Authority actually acts. But between the governor’s backing, the airport CEO’s public support, and a six-figure petition behind it, this has clearly moved past “fan idea” territory into something officials are seriously weighing. If it goes through, Nashville would end up with one of the more instantly recognizable airport names anywhere.

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