FLYING Magazine
A Tennessee state representative appears to have lent support for renaming Nashville International Airport (KBNA) after country singer Dolly Parton, who died at age 80 in Music City on Tuesday.
A petition started by two Nashville residents in early 2025 to rename Nashville International after Parton had only a few thousand supporters earlier this week. Following Parton’s death, the petition has spiked to more than 90,000 signatures as of Wednesday.
The petition is hosted by Change.org, which said its civic engagement team contacts decision makers to inform them of petitions in their community. Those people can then comment on community initiatives.
“Yes I will definitely introduce legislation to rename the BNA airport Dolly Parton International Airport! Thanks, TW,” reads a comment attributed to Tennessee state representative Todd Warner, whom Change.org said responded to the petition via email.
Warner appears to be the first local politician to explicitly support the airport’s renaming.
“The outpouring of support has reinvigorated our mission—to rename the Nashville International Airport to Dolly Parton International Airport,” the petition’s organizers wrote Tuesday. “Tennessee state [Representative] Todd Warner has pledged to introduce legislation to make this change happen. We are so very grateful for his support.”
The Tennessean reported Tuesday that organizers launched the campaign in 2025 in response to previous legislation backed by Warner, which called to rename Nashville International after President Donald Trump. Officials in Florida earlier this year renamed Palm Beach International Airport (formerly KPBI, now KDJT) after Trump following an affirmative vote from local lawmakers.
Atlanta’s WAGA-TV reported in April 2025 that Warner withdrew the legislation one month after filing it, due to pushback from Nashville legislators.
“That bill went down in flames in the transportation committee,” Warner said in March 2025, according to local news outlet The Williamson Scene. “I had numerous emails asking to name it [after Parton,] and I would have no problem with that whatsoever.”
Parton in 2025 gave an exclusive interview to The Tennessean after becoming aware of the petition to rename the airport after her. At the time, it had fewer than 3,000 signatures, the newspaper reported. According to organizers, “tens of thousands of additional supporters” have signed it after Parton’s death.
“It does sound like a lot of fun to say: ‘Your flight is departin’ from Nashville’s D. Parton,’” the singer said.
Parton, 80, was born in Pittman Center, Tennessee, near the town of Gatlinburg. She moved to Nashville shortly after graduating high school, and the best-selling artist became well known for her association with the city.
Though Parton is beloved by Tennesseans, it is unclear whether Nashville International’s proposed renaming could happen any time soon. According to The Tennessean, an airport naming policy introduced in 2020 and updated in 2024 requires airport buildings to be named after people who have been deceased for at least two years.
That means August 25, 2028, would be the earliest that passengers could say they are “departin’ from Parton,” unless the rule is changed.
The newspaper also reported that Nashville airport officials in 2025 estimated it would cost about $10.34 million to rebrand the airport. As is the case with Palm Beach International’s transition to Donald J. Trump International, the rebrand would require new signage, merchandise, uniforms, and possibly a new International Air Transport Association (IATA) identifier.
Local officials will factor in those considerations should Warner initiate the process of renaming the airport.