A campaign to rename Nashville's airport, currently known by its code BNA, to Dolly Parton International Airport is gaining official momentum, with backing from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, the Metro Nashville Airport Authority and Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell. The proposal carries a poignant irony: Parton was famously afraid of flying and spent decades touring by bus rather than private jet, making the prospect of an airport bearing her name a fitting joke she would likely have appreciated herself.

A petition for the renaming began circulating in 2025, and Parton initially dismissed it as a joke unlikely to be taken seriously. A planning meeting on the proposal is scheduled for 17 September, and if approved, she would become only the second American musician after Louis Armstrong in New Orleans to have an airport named after them, and the first woman. Parton, who previously turned down a statue in her honour at the Tennessee State Capitol, was known for favouring charitable initiatives, such as her Imagination Library, over purely symbolic tributes.