Las Vegas Changes Airport Name

One of the most recognizable airport names in the country – if not the world – is no more.

Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport on Tuesday officially became the Harry Reid International Airport, according to Fox5 Las Vegas.

It was not a surprise.

The move was actually considered last year and officially approved in a unanimous vote by the Clark County Commission on February 16, 2021.

Reid was a longtime U.S. Senator from Nevada whose Senate career started in 1987. He served as the Senate Majority Leader during the Obama Administration from 2007 to 2015.

The $4.2 million cost to change the name was all privately financed and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“He represents somebody who grew up in Searchlight with one foot in the past, but grew over the years and now came to support our multiethnic, multinational, multiracial community,” Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said according to Fox5. “Signs, like when you enter the airport, those will change pretty rapidly. Then, over time different things around the airport and inside the airport will change, but you could imagine McCarran is everywhere, so it’s going to take a while to substitute each one.”

Indeed, McCarran is as familiar a formal airport name as there is. The airport was first named Alamo Field in 1942 before officials named it after another U.S. Senator from Nevada, Pat McCarran, in 1948.

McCarran was a big influence on aviation in both Nevada and the country.

But, as part and parcel of the times, the name change from McCarran International Airport to Harry Reid International

Airport was instigated in small measure by the woke culture. The County Commission cited Pat McCarran’s efforts on behalf of aviation but also called out his anti-immigration and anti-Semitic views as well.