Improvements included a new terminal building with a modern control tower and Jet Age runways. Nashville’s airport officially opened in 1937 as Berry Field, in honor of Colonel Harry S. Berry, the state administrator of the Works Progress Administrator, or WPA. Berry Field became the military base for the 4th Ferrying Command during World War II and was returned to the city when the war ended. The airport’s name was officially changed to Nashville International Airport in 1988, but the original three-letters BNA, which stands for Berry Field Nashville, remains.
