Silver State Times

 

Nevada officials have renamed the Las Vegas airport after former longtime U.S. Sen. Harry Reid.

“We have received a lot of inquiries about the @ClarkCountyNV Commission’s decision to rename the airport,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman posted on Twitter soon after the change became official. “What are your thoughts on the name change that occurred today?”

While Reid was unable to attend the renaming ceremony, his sprit seemed to be everywhere, with one after another speakers rising to praise him for his vision and support for maintaining infrastructure across the state.

“He knew it was the gateway to boosting tourism,” U.S. Transportation Undersecretary Carlos Monje told those in attendance at the facility known for the last seven decades as McCarran International Airport, the Associated Press reported.

“By investing in infrastructure all around the Las Vegas Strip, visitors are able to more easily (access) the properties and generate millions and billions of revenue for the state,” Monje said.

Reid’s son, former Clark County Commission chairman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid, told the audience his father “regretted not being able to be here" to mark the occasion, adding he "understands what an incredible honor this is for him.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the 82-year-old Reid and his wife, Landra, decided not to attend because of the ongoing threat of COVID-19. Reid was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018, and his wife is a cancer survivor.

Reid served in the U.S. Senate for 30 years, including eight years as Democratic majority leader from 2007 to 2015. When he retired in 2017, he had earned the status of being the longest-serving senator in Nevada history. Prior to joining the senate, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987.

In a statement, Reid recalled his first airplane ride at the airport more than 60 years ago and his more than three decades of trips home from Washington.

“I worked hard during my years in Congress to help build and grow the airport, and it is a source of tremendous pride to me,” Reid said in the statement. “It is the indispensable ingredient to Las Vegas’ success; it’s the gateway through which millions come from every corner of the world to see our city, which is like no other place on earth.” 

Reid was among those advocating for development of the Terminal 3 international arrivals annex, which opened nearly a decade ago and served as the site of the renaming ceremony. Now ranking among the country’s 10 busiest, the airport handled 51.5 million passengers in pre-coronavirus 2019, including some 3.8 million from cities including London, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Frankfurt, Germany, and Tel Aviv, Israel.