Reactions mixed to naming airport in honor of Inouye

The Honolulu International Airport’s name will be officially changed at a ceremony on Memorial Day weekend, but not everyone will be celebrating.

Public reaction has been mixed to renaming the facility the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport after the late U.S. senator.

“What’s the point?” asked Nolana Boel of downtown Honolulu, who said the change could harm tourism. “My feeling is that Sen. Inouye has no global recognition and Honolulu Airport is globally recognized. I don’t know if we’re trying to encourage or discourage tourism.”

“I sort of feel with airports, just as a traveler, I like the thought of airports not being named after people,” said Doug Miller, 59, a Kailua resident and retired major with the Honolulu Police Department. “While I certainly recognize that Inouye was a great senator for us and would like to certainly support his name being put on a variety of important places such as freeways, tunnels or other buildings, for airports my preference is that they keep the city name because sometimes it can be a little confusing when traveling.”

Others say the new name is a fitting honor for the senator who lost an arm in World War II and served in office for half a century.

“It’s a great thing,” said Jeffrey Lum, 47, a pharmacist and Hawaii Kai resident. “You’ve got to honor the guy.”

Lum said he didn’t buy the argument that the name change would be difficult for travelers.

“Like everything, you get used to it,” he said.

The name change was approved last year after resolutions were introduced in the state Legislature by Senate President Ron Kouchi and Rep. Scott Nishimoto, a former Inouye staff member.

Kouchi said in a statement the airport was renamed to honor Inouye as “the primary and driving force in developing Hono­lulu’s primary airport into the hub of interisland, trans-Pacific and global air travel for the state of Hawaii.”

Inouye, who died at age 88 on Dec. 17, 2012, was instrumental in securing federal funds of about $30 mil- lion annually to maintain and develop essential airport infrastructure. Inouye acquired additional federal funding to build new air traffic control facilities, improve runways and taxiways, and install instrument landing systems for increased visibility and safety, according to the resolutions. He also was behind upgrading Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint facilities and equipment.

The Federal Aviation Administration began using the new name on April 27, but state Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Sakahara said the official name change won’t occur until a ceremony at the end of this month. He said the date and time have been set and will be announced “soon.”

“We’re working with Sen. Inouye’s friends, family and representatives, who are all going to be a part of it,” Sakahara said. “We have been planning and coordinating the ceremony with all the appropriate people involved and thought what better time than to have it focused around Memorial Day (weekend) to honor his legacy and everything that the great senator did for the state.”

This will be the fourth name for the airport.

Hawaii’s largest airport opened in March 1927 as John Rodgers Airport. It was named in honor of the late Cmdr. John Rodgers, who led the first attempt to fly from the mainland to Hawaii in 1925. His plane ran out of fuel and ditched in the ocean about 365 miles from Oahu. Rodgers and his crew were rescued after 10 days at sea.

John Rodgers Airport was renamed Honolulu Airport in 1947 and then became Hono­lulu International Airport in 1951.

Yoellah Yuhudah, 66, an artist and Nuuanu resident, said there was very little negative she could find with the renaming.

“Even my family in Chicago knows about him (Inouye),” Yuhudah said. “I’ve lived in Hawaii for 25 years and all I’ve heard have been good things about him.”

Michaela Kemna, 20, a University of Hawaii at Manoa student and Hawaii Kai resident, said she thought it might be more appropriate to name something else besides the airport after Inouye.

“I think it’s nice to commemorate him, but I think it might be a little confusing for people when they’re looking for Honolulu International Airport because it no longer will be named that,” she said. “I heard someone say maybe name the rail after him. I don’t know if the airport would be appropriate.”

Jennifer Sabas, former chief of staff for Inouye, said it was an honor to have the airport named after the late senator.

“It is a fitting tribute for a public servant who spent more than 50 years traveling between Washington, D.C., his beloved Hawaii and on occasion to the Asia-Pacific region,” Sabas said in a statement. “As a member of the Senate Commerce and Appropriations committees for decades, which have jurisdiction over aviation, he worked to ensure that the 50th state and one of the most dependent on a robust airline and airport system received its fair share and was treated equitably.”