The board of commissioners of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority passed a resolution on Thursday, June 26, 2025 approving for Memphis International Airport to change its name.
Memphis International Airport to Change Its Name
The new name for the airport will be renamed in honor of Frederick Wallace Smith, who is the founder of Federal Express Corporation — which is currently known as FedEx — and was the chief executive officer of the company until he announced in March of 2022 that he was stepping down from the position to become its executive chairman. He passed away on Saturday, June 21, 2025. Members of the staff are to immediately move forward with creating a timeline and implementation plan for the formal renaming of the airport — including determining the estimated costs that will be associated with the renaming of the airport, working with airlines, other airports, local agencies, and the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States. The airport code MEM will remain unchanged.
Click here for the official resolution of the renaming of Memphis International Airport.
Memphis International Airport is not the only airport whose name may change. As part of a broader effort to improve the experience of passengers, a new name was once again announced from the Port of Oakland for Metropolitan Oakland International Airport. The new name for the airport will likely be Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, which is subject to final approval by the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners tomorrow, Thursday, July 10, 2025. Once final approval is granted, members of the staff will move forward with the formal renaming — including working with airlines, other airports, and local agencies. Both the airport code OAK and visual brand will remain unchanged.
Final Boarding Call
The proposed new name of Memphis International Airport is changing to honor someone, which for a number of reasons I vehemently oppose. Airports should not be named after people, in my opinion — especially when people such as Patrick Anthony McCarran and John Wayne are considered to be controversial…
…but an airport name should also be easy to remember. It should include the name of the geographic location which it serves. I personally prefer the name to remain Memphis International Airport. Easy.
Most of the people who pass through Memphis International Airport will not know who Frederick Wallace Smith was — no matter how good and honorable a man he might have been throughout his life. The money that will be spent on changing the name of the airport could instead be used on improving the airport itself. Other ways exist with which Frederick Wallace Smith can be honored — like a charity towards his favorite causes.
Even Frederick Wallace Smith himself reportedly objected to having the airport named after him as many as 30 years ago, as doing so “was for dead people” and said that when he was not alive anymore, they can do whatever they want to do.
The official new name of the airport had not yet been revealed at the time this article was written; but it could likely be Frederick W. Smith Memphis International Airport. In my opinion, it does not need to follow the example of the international airport which serves Baltimore, whose official name was Baltimore/Washington International Airport but then was changed to — get this — Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Just call it Memphis International Airport and be done with it, as the name does not need to be any longer than necessary…
Photograph ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
