Council changes airport’s name to Killeen Regional Airport

Killeen Daily Herald
By Kevin Limiti | Herald
September 26, 2023

The Killeen City Council on Tuesday approved renaming the Killeen-Fort Hood Regional airport to the Killeen Regional Airport.

The motion passed 7-0. Afterward, the council members applauded as the mayor announced the new name.

The name Greater Killeen Regional Airport was initially proposed by Councilman Jose Segarra, but afterward, Councilman Michael Boyd made an amendment to the motion, suggesting the simpler name.

“I’m just not convinced that based on the information provided how the inclusion of 'greater'...contributes to the economic prosperity for additional customers at this time,” Boyd said. “The mayor made a great point last week. The name Killeen should be the first word of the airport name.”

Mayor Debbie Nash-King said last week that she wanted the name to have “Killeen” at the beginning.

Boyd listed other airports in the country such as Dallas Love Field and Chicago O’Hare, which have the name of the location first.

“I think it’ll be more appropriate to include “greater” in the future after we undergo a major airport expansion,” Boyd said.

Councilman Riakos Adams said there were “two good choices.”

Segarra said he was okay with the recommendation, but explained his reasons for having “greater” in the name.

“From my perspective, the only reason I like the ‘Greater’ is because of our (airport’s) initials, GRK,” he said. “I think it falls in line now then when it was (the Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport) … now I think it’s closer to our code.”

But he said he was okay with either one.

The amendment changing the name choice to “Killeen Regional Airport” was approved 6-1, with Segarra the lone dissenting vote.

Nash-King said it all comes back to the comprehensive plan. “Killeen needs to be first,” she said. “'Greater' would make us seem big, but right now we’re just trying to identify who we are as a community.”

Councilwoman Jessica Gonzalez asked Executive Director of Aviation Mike Wilson how they came up with the name.

A focus group ended up recommending the “Greater Killeen” name, but the most popular among survey respondents was “Killeen Regional Airport” he said.

“We reached out to a large cross section,” he said, including local leaders and others.

The name change is part of an initiative to drive more passengers to fly in and out of the Killeen airport as opposed to major hubs such as Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to a city staff report.

One of the reasons for the name change eliminating the words “Fort Hood” is that, according to council members and other city officials, the airport was being mistaken for a military airport.

Fort Hood’s name was changed to Fort Cavazos in May, opening the door to new naming options for Killeen’s airport.

Last week, consultant Jeremiah Gerald, senior director of Aviation Week Network, conducted a presentation about the renaming of the airport.

“I’ve done multiple airport rebrand programs in my career,” Gerald said last Tuesday, explaining that the rebranding process is about defining the airport for the community.

Gerald said they are currently in stage one of the process.

“We’re going to refresh the logo with the new name,” Gerald said. “The brand is only good as the restrictions you put around it. So we’re going through a brand implementation process.”

Gerald said last week that they would roll out brand marketing after the name is chosen, wrapped up in a new logo. He said they already started revamping the website.

“We have to re-educate these customers as they come in because Fort Hood is in the name of the airport,” he said. “We have to think more about what is the purpose of the airport, what are we trying to do in the name of the airport? Who are we trying to attract? And it’s more than just the local people, right? And we serve a large group of people, ultimately globally for this region.”

There are four stages of the renaming process which includes the research stage — including market research, passenger intercept, stakeholder surveys and focus group sessions — which the consultant went over during the Sept. 19 meeting.

According to the presentation, there were a total of 41 passenger intercept surveys collected between June and August 2023 and 81 stakeholder surveys during the same time frame.

Killeen has also conducted soft-market research through sites such as Yelp, Google and Facebook.

Some of the insights taken from the surveys were that people like that the airport is convenient and close with easy parking, friendly staff and clean facilities, among other things.

However, they didn’t like that there were staffing shortages at the airport, the canceled and delayed flights, expensive fares and inconsistent customer support, among other things.

“It was hard to find negative feedback on the experiences passengers are having,” Gerald said. “I think it’s just a testament of how the environment at the airport … they’re doing a great job.”

He also said the fares at the Killeen airport are similar to the Austin market.

Gerald said last week they had not received any negative comments from Fort Cavazos regarding the issue of renaming the airport.

Wilson said last week it will be a 45- to 60-day process with the Federal Aviation Administration before the name change becomes official.

But if the city changed the airport’s three-letter identifier it would take more than a year.