Frankly, no
Let’s not make a BFD by renaming PHL for a favorite adopted son. Ben Franklin’s got plenty already
It was presented as a "big idea" on Philadelphia Magazine's online presence – renaming Philadelphia International Airport after Benjamin Franklin.
Calling it a "nice idea" would have been more accurate.
Among the (white, male, European, privileged, slaving-owning) Founding Fathers, Dr. Franklin was my favorite, and not just for being America's first gossip columnist (as Poor Richard), a vocation I assumed for a while centuries after his death.
Calling him a Renaissance Man is like calling Donald Trump a cultural sociopath. It undervalues him.
One of the oldest of the Revolutionaries (a Colonial Seasoned Citizen), he was cautious about going to war with the world's most powerful empire. He wrote, "There never was a good war, or a bad peace." But when the Brits proved obstinate, he embraced the cause of arms. (Yes, I read Walter Isaacson's prodigious biography.)
The man was profoundly remarkable. He came from modest means and had not much formal education, but knew the importance of that which he lacked.
His natural brilliance and inquisitiveness led him to success as a printer, author, statesman, inventor and diplomat.
Yes, we know about the lightning rod, and maybe the Franklin stove, and the bifocal glasses, but how about swim flippers and much, much more.
Yes, he was thrilled by hot-air ballooning, but he did not invent the airplane, as he did the flexible catheter (ewww).
History has not overlooked him.
His countenance calmly gazes from the $100 bill, there are 24 counties or parishes named for him, countless towns, a half-dozen universities or colleges, numerous elementary and middle schools and here in his adopted home town: The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Penn's Franklin Field, the Parkway's Franklin Institute – and that parkway is the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
What I'm saying is, he hasn't been dissed.
The Philadelphia International Airport should remain the Philadelphia International Airport, for reasons ranging from the code – PHL – making such perfect sense, to telling people exactly where it is, unlike the ATT and the Jefferson Septa stations that are truly unhelpful.
In addition to writing and diplomacy, Dr. Franklin was a huge hit with the ladies. That suggests something else we could name for him, but I dare not be more specific than that, not even on a blog.