CAA: GA News, "Dallas Council Changes Name of Airport in Effort to Target Business Clients"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, February 28, 2002

Dallas Council Changes Name of Airport in Effort to Target Business
Clients
The Dallas (TX) Morning News


The Red Bird Airport name will go the way of the dodo, as the City
Council decided Wednesday to recast the long-struggling general aviation
center as Dallas Executive Airport.

Saying they hope to attract new business and a corporate clientele to
the airport, council members voted 10-2 to change the Red Bird name. The
transformation, which takes effect May 1, comes five years after nearby
Red Bird Mall was reborn as Southwest Center Mall.

Supporters of the proposal argued that the Red Bird moniker had a
negative reputation that had spawned the nickname "Dead Bird." But some
neighbors said that they were proud of the Red Bird name and that the
airport was an important landmark in the city's southern sector.

Council member James Fantroy, whose district includes the airport,
proposed the change as part of an effort to revitalize the airport. The
city also plans to build a new terminal and control tower at the
airport, which is used primarily by private pilots.

Owners of businesses at the airport and pilots told the council that
including the word "executive" in the name would alert companies to the
airport's amenities.

"The name Red Bird gives us no advantage as a marketing tool," pilot
Dennis Sorber said. "Marketing is everything to the future of this
airport."

But opponents said a new name would do little to address to what ails
the airport.

"If someone's going to land, they're going to see that this is not an
executive airport," said Ronald Davis, a member of the airport's
advisory committee.

The airport and the surrounding area have struggled recently. Three
years ago, the city ousted the private company hired to manage most of
the airport's developed property, saying the firm had consistently
failed to meet management obligations.

Dallas Initiative, a city-financed nonprofit created to attract industry
to the area, also has been criticized for failing to produce results.
But Dallas Initiative officials have said they're in the final stages of
developing a golf course and a senior living development in the area.

Mayor Laura Miller said she was compelled to back the new name because
of strong support for the change among the airport's tenants.

But council member Mark Housewright, who grew up in the Red Bird area,
remained unconvinced that recasting the airport would revitalize it. He
pointed to the mall as evidence that a new name is not a cure-all.

"I rue the day that mall changed its name," he said. "It did nothing to
change the perception."

Mr. Housewright and council member Maxine Thornton-Reese voted against
the proposal.


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