Stakeholders Believe the Current Name is Unnecessarily Confusing

St. Augustine stakeholders recently told the St. Johns County Legislative Delegation what items were put on its ‘need list’ for 2025. One of the main hopes for this year is to get back its original name, ditching the long and confusing title it was given fifteen years ago.

The field was created in 1933 as a public-use airport but converted to Naval Auxiliary Air Station St. Augustine after the 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor. It returned to the general aviation community five years later and a simple title, St. Augustine Airport, stuck with it.

Things started getting rocky in April 2010 when Florida legislators approved renaming the field to Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine. Luckily, this was shortened to just Northeast Florida Regional Airport (UST) in 2016.

The name isn’t necessarily wrong; the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida sits on the state’s East coast and only around 35 miles south of Jacksonville. However, airport stakeholders seem to think that it would be much more simple to bring back the original St. Augustine Airport title.

City residents, authorities, and nonprofit leaders gathered for St. Johns County’s annual State Legislative Delegation public hearing on Friday, January 10. Senator Tom Leek and Representatives Sam Greco and Kim Kendall were part of the Legislative Delegation. The airport’s Interim Executive Director, Courtney Pittman, was one of over 50 speakers to present.

Pittman used her time to ask St. Johns County leadership for help in getting the name through the state legislature. She explained that the change would build the city’s “global reputation as a high-end, culturally rich destination,” noting that the current name is too clunky for conversation.

However, this change lacks priority compared to other projects on the region’s “need list,” as a speaker called it. Other speakers requested Medical Examiner’s office funding and North Beach flood mitigation assistance.

FMI: www.flynf.com