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Flying SUX
There’s an old aphorism that says “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Apparently, that’s what officials at the Sioux City airport have decided to do with their 3-letter identifier: SUX.
Until very recently, Sioux City’s civic leaders have endeavored to have their airport designator code changed. They petitioned the FAA in 1988 and again in 2002. The FAA – exemplifying the beaurocratic elan and taste that one might expect from the current administration – gave the city 5 other options including GAY, “not that there’s anything wrong with that,” to use the ubiquitous Seinfeld line.
GAY? SUX? What is this, payback for being Tom Daschle’s home state?
Well, City Councillor Dave Bernstein proposed to make the best of a situation that “SUX.” Bernstein argued that the identifier might not be ideal, but it’s memorable. It sure is. I can think of other identifiers that are also memorable (one rhymes with SUX) but are they really desirable? Should an airport and a city accept a word that, for many people, signals bad manners or poor taste? My dear, departed mother would raise more than an eyebrow were I to have used this word in her presence. She was no prude; she was a lady and expected me to act accordingly.
I’m no expert when it comes to marketing issues as they relate to the commercial aviation category, but I do know that airport-airline relations matter. These days, when airlines are cutting routes to small cities like Sioux City, I cannot help but think that this identifier won’t help. SUX sucks when it comes to setting a tone. (Sorry, Mom.) Not only that, but it also not-so-very-subtly is just a little too close to the truth. For many travelers today, Sioux City's designator describes the whole air travel experience in one word.
I may not admire the identifier, but I do admire the gumption of Councillor Bernstein and his crew. The hat depicted here demonstrates that the airport intends to wear its indignity like a badge of honor. Maybe the marketing campaign will sufficiently embarrass the FAA - and its Republican Family-Value-Quoting Leadership - enough to force a polite reconsideration.
How about a brand new 3-letter designation for Washington’s Reagan National Airport? WAR?
Posted on October 23, 2007 04:11 PM | Permalink
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