![]() ![]() ![]() The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. A ticket to Margaritaville could be just an Expedia visit away. If the tickets cost more money than flying to Miami, that’s partially defrayed by avoiding the cost of car rental and fuel in driving down from the city. But there are legions of fans for whom flying into Jimmy Buffett International Airport will become a rite of passage. Visitors to Key West are more likely to land in Miami and rent a car to take the drive, one of the most scenic experiences in America. Rebranding means added costs, which could be substantial. When completed, the new terminal could bear Cabanas’ name, just like the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium boasts Steve Spurrier Field. Key West International is expanding with a new concourse added by 2025. That sort of prestige shouldn’t go unnoticed, but there’s a way to split this and make all sides happy. (Unlike the Mississippi-born Buffett, Cabanas was a fourth-generation Conch.) In 1991, the mayor of Key West declared Cabanas general of the Conch Republic Air Force. ![]() Cabanas was, like Buffett, one of those larger-than-life figures that Key West seems to attract. The Post reported that the most significant name is that of Freddy Cabanas, a local stunt pilot who died a decade ago in a crash in Mexico. First is a contingent of people on the island who have been calling for the airport to be named for someone else. An easy decisionĪside from Buffett detractors, whose bleating on anything Key Westian can easily be discounted, pushback on the renaming has come in two forms. Hurdles include approvals from the feds, the county and the Buffett estate.Ĭates, who knew Buffett as mayor of Key West, where he served from 2009 to 2018, told the Palm Beach Post that Monroe County Attorney Bob Shillinger would reach out to Margaritaville Holdings, which controls the Buffett brand, to begin discussions.įace it, the name Key West International Airport is boring - even if Key West the place isn’t. “It would be a long process and we’d have to work through it,” County Mayor Craig Cates told WLRN. Officials in Monroe County, which owns the Key West airport, have heard the pleas, but change will be slow in coming. His songs are rife with references to the island, even if his best-known song about air travel might be “Jamaica Mistaica,” which recounts the true story of Buffett’s Grumman HU-16 Albatross taking incoming fire from Jamaican police who mistakenly believed it was running drugs. Few musicians are so closely associated with a place as Buffett is with Key West. ![]()
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