Portsmouth Herald Editorial

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/05242006/editoria/104115.htm

It’s hard to know exactly why there has been a recent outbreak of airport name changes in Northern New England. Last month, Manchester Airport changed its name to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in hopes of reviving declining passenger numbers. In Massachusetts earlier this month, Worcester Regional Airport authorities opted for the total mouthful gambit by changing its identity to Worcester Metrowest Boston Airport in hopes of reviving declining passenger numbers.

And now we have a local angle on what some would consider the triumph of marketing overkill over common sense. Last week, the Pease Development Authority board of directors approved the change from Pease International Airport to Portsmouth International Airport at Pease.
According to news reports, the new name of Portsmouth International Airport at Pease represents a compromise. There were those who believed the Pease name was too connected to the former Air Force base and it wasn’t geographically specific for the flying public and potential carriers.

On the other side of the table, there were those like PDA board member Anthony MacManus, who voted against the name change because “there’s more to Pease than Portsmouth — it represents an entire region.” MacManus also opposed the airport name change because it went against the grain of a larger marketing effort for Pease International Tradeport. PDA Vice Chairman Peter Laughlin, who supported the name change, said, “I’m pleased the way we worked through the input we received.”

We have no problem with a name change at Pease as part of a larger marketing effort for the tradeport in general and the unprofitable airport side in particular. We do take issue with a mouthful of a name that could undermine the airport’s ability to attract more commercial aviation business.

We are glad that the new name isn’t Portsmouth-Boston Regional Airport or even Portsmouth Metronorth Boston Regional Airport. But Portsmouth International Airport at Pease ranks in puzzling logic with the switch done a few years ago by the professional baseball team The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It simply doesn’t make sense and invites ridicule. We recommend that the PDA go back to the drawing board and choose an emphasis on either Pease or Portsmouth but not both.