Las Vegas airport is getting a new name
LAS VEGAS – A county board voted unanimously Tuesday to rename busy McCarran International Airport after former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.
The all-Democratic Clark County Commission approved a measure directing the county’s airport staff to file a change with the Federal Aviation Administration renaming the facility Harry Reid International Airport.
The county commission oversees the airport and is the final authority on a name change.
There have been long-standing calls to rename the airport. Its current namesake, Patrick McCarran, served as one of Nevada’s two U.S. senators from 1933 until his death in 1954. He was known for his contributions to aviation along with his anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic views.
Reid, a Democrat and the former Senate majority leader, retired in 2016 after 30 years. The proposal was put forward by Commissioner Tick Segerblom, a former chair of the state Democratic Party who said he is again running for the chairmanship.
The FAA must take steps to process a name change before officially recognizing it. That’s likely to take a few months.
“It is with humility that I express my appreciation for the recognition today. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Commissioner Segerblom, the entire Clark County Commission, and the many others who have played a part in this renaming,” Reid said in a statement Tuesday.
The proposal drew public support from longtime Reid aides and supporters, including Dan Hamilton, dean of the law school at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas; Stephen Cloobeck, founder of Diamond Resorts International and a major Democratic donor; and MGM Resorts, which has Reid cochairing its public policy institute.
MGM Resorts Director of Government Affairs Jason Gray read a statement from the company’s CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle that said that because of McCarran’s history of support for racist and anti-Semitic policies, his name should not be the first one visitors see when they reach Nevada.
McCarran, a Democrat, was the author of the 1938 Civil Aeronautics Act, which established the federal government’s role in overseeing aviation by regulating airline fares and investigating accidents.
“Las Vegas’s main airport should be named for a champion of values important to Nevada, a champion of Nevada: Sen. Harry Reid,” Gray said.
Some members of the public questioned why officials would rename the airport after a politician who was polarizing and did not enjoy the same popularity outside his own political party.
“You don’t name a car or new computer with a name that 50% of the possible consumers dislike,” said Daniel Braisted of Las Vegas.
French author François de la Rochefoucauld makes this observation.