In 2025, a petition began circulating to change the name of Nashville’s airport, currently known by its airport code BNA, to Dolly Parton International Airport. When asked about the efforts during an interview with Gayle King, Parton brushed it off with her
usual humility. “I’m very flattered,” Parton said. “I think that’s just a joke. I don’t think anybody’s all that serious about it.”
What would make the proposal of an airport named in Parton’s honor more humorous than any other effort to pay tribute to the American icon? Well, Parton hated to fly. And she also loved a good joke.
“I’ll tell everyone, I don’t care. I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t like to fly,” Parton told Bobby Bones in 2018. “I’m like my daddy. I don’t want to go no higher up than pulling corn and no lower down than pickin’ taters.” It was another kind of relatable Parton moment: up to 40 percent of the population claim to be afraid to fly.
Parton conquered her fears when she had to, taking flights to Europe, when she had time constraints or when something was a big secret. She chartered a plane to Newport Folk Festivalin 2019 to pop in with the Highwomen, even entering the festival grounds in a cloak to conceal her identity. But for the most part, Parton used her tour bus, and never owned a private jet. According to reportingby the aviation site Aero Corner, she racked up 360,000 miles in her bus, which contained a wig cabinet, plenty of pink décor, and a vanity area. Want to sleep like Parton? You can book a stay at Parton’s DreamMore Resort at Dollywood, where the vehicle is now parked: It costs $10,000, and every penny of profit is donated to her foundation.
Now, with support from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA), a proposal is moving forward to make Dolly Parton International a reality, with a planning meeting scheduled for Sept. 17. If the name change happens, Parton would be only the second American musician — after Louis Armstrong in New Orleans — to have an airport named after them, and the first woman. The proposal has bipartisan support, with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell signing on.
Only Parton and her family know, ultimately, if this is something that she would have wanted. We do know that Parton, who once rejected the idea of a statue being erected in her honor at the State Capitol, wasn’t a huge fan of symbolic over impactful actions. She preferred initiatives in her name that drove funds to her foundation and the Imagination Library, or any of her numerous other charitable causes.
Here’s hoping that if Dolly Parton International Airport becomes a reality, it is matched by efforts to draw funds to her projects. Might we suggest some Imagination Library book boxes in the terminals… Children reading Coat of Many Colors while waiting to board would have been something Parton could have, no pun intended, gotten on board with.
But the irony of naming an airport after someone who so deeply disliked flying? We’re sure Parton would have had a good laugh.
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