Convention authority staff to study airport name change
After an unusually tart discussion Tuesday among board members, the Las Vegas convention authority staff was told to put together a cost-benefit analysis for changing the name of McCarran International Airport to Las Vegas International, and bring it back to the board next month.
At that point, board members might declare a preference on a rechristening, although it would have no practical impact because only the Clark County Commission can decide what to call the county-run airport.
The debate’s fault line saw some municipal elected officials who sit on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board pushing for a new name, while the two county commissioners on the board expressed no interest in a change.
"Do we want to request the airlines to spend millions of dollars to say something we already say?" said authority board member and Commissioner Tom Collins.
The McCarran logo and promotional materials already prominently feature Las Vegas. At least part of the cost of changing items such as signs and the mccarran.com website would fall on tenant airlines, which pay fees to cover operating costs and debt service.
Aviation experts largely agree the airport name for a city the size and prominence of Las Vegas matters only in a metro area with more than one airport, such as Houston or New York. Airline and independent booking websites are geared to the city, not the airport.
Noting the commission’s sole legal authority over the airport, "I don’t think anything else needs to be said," Collins added, with authority member and fellow Commissioner Lawrence Weekly nodding in agreement.
But North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck argued that the name fell within the authority’s purview to promote the convention and tourist sectors.
"We need to know the cost. We need to know the benefits," she said. "Do the benefits outweigh the costs?"
Her allies included Las Vegas Council Member Steve Ross, who in June first raised the issue of removing the McCarran name as a way to bolster the area’s visibility, and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
At the start of the discussion, Collins handed each board member a laminated copy of the McCarran logo, which includes the name "Las Vegas."
That prompted Goodman to note that the plastic covering is "very expensive," and to add sarcastically that the logos could double as place mats.
For the September meeting, the authority staff was directed to ask the airport staff about a range of prices of and possible passenger gains from a rename. Board member Chuck Bowling asked that the report concentrate on whether Las Vegas International would actually attract more visitors or flights.
Contact reporter Tim O’Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
