Wichita’s airport officially began using its new name on Monday, even though the new terminal is still a few months away from opening.
KMUW’s Deborah Shaar has the story.
On Monday morning, airport and city leaders unveiled the new airport logo complete with a new name: the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.
The city legally changed the name last April, allowing the Federal Aviation Administration to update its documents and navigation charts in November.
Airport Director Victor White has spent ten years working toward the new airport, so the name change is a key milestone.
“This is a big deal for our community," says White, "to not only have the name change, because it’s been Mid-Continent since 1973, and then to have the new terminal which is an entirely new thing for the community. It’s really something for everybody to be proud of.”
The name “Eisenhower Airport Parkway” is already on a few city street signs coming into the airport, and the state highway department is working on changing over about 20 signs on main highways in the area.
White says the first flight from new terminal is expected to take off in early May.
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This story originally aired during All Things Considered on 01/23/15.
