Once in a while, the three-letter designator is exactly what you think it should be. Oslo International Airport Gardermoen is OSL - not only logical and easy to remember, but the source of a rather cool logo 
But mostly, making the designator unique will take precedence over making it understandable or obvious.
I thought it was SUX? I know some people were wanting to change it (for obvious reasons), but SOY seems to be taken already (Stronsay, UK).
Why do I have a feeling I just got whooshed?
Fresno is FAT.
[aside] FWIW, the playground, which is where he played baseball as a kid, ultimately was named for Joltin’ Joe. IIRC, one of his brothers overruled the lawyer. In any event, there’s now a sign on the playground. [/aside]
As a lot of individuals, businesses, and governmental agencies (including the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority) found out when Washington National Airport’s name was changed to Ronald Reagan National Airport.
As far as airport renaming, I wouldn’t think it would be so complicated. In Cleveland, for instance, the main airport is called Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The three-letter designator is just CLE, no reference to Hopkins, and most of the signs on the freeway, busses, etc. just say “Airport”. None of that would have to be changed if they renamed it. It might take a while for people to start using the new name, but then, when folks are talking about it, they usually just say “the airport” anyway. The only time anyone ever refers to it as “Hopkins” is when distinguishing it from Burke Lakefront, the second-largest airport in Cleveland (mostly just general aviation).
Why is Port Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio, designated “CMH”?
Actually, it’s Berry Field, Nashville
Have you seen the quality of their security?
I think CMH = Columbus Municipal Hangar.
I would presume that CIN in Iowa is near Cincinnati, Iowa. When I used to book flights to Cincinnati on Travelocity it would always ask if I wanted Ohio or Iowa. The “old” airport in Cincinnati proper is Lunken Field, but it was not expanded for bigger flights because there is little/no room and it’s prone to flooding. I imagine that CVG was then used. Covington is not as close to the airport as some other towns in Kentucky, like Erlanger, but I guess CVG is nice since most people assume the C is for Cincinnati.
Actually, the code for Southwest Florida International Airport is RSW, which is probably for the airport’s original name, Southwest Florida Regional Airport. Page Field, the main airport for Fort Myers before RSW was built in 1983, has the code FMY.
Just FYI.
The code for Albuquerque is ABQ because the code for Albany is ALB. Guess where our bags often end up if we don’t keep an eye on the the clerk who tags the luggage?
Even more confusing in Kansas City is that no one in town calls it MCI, they call it KCI (for Kansas City International) but that’s not its name.
Except that wouldn’t work in cities like Washington, which has three airports (Dulles, Reagan National, Baltimore-Washington International), or New York (LaGuardia, JFK, Newark).
The renaming of National Airport was a big deal, partially, because Congress mandated the change, yet provided no money to do so. Given that unfunded mandates pretty much go against the central tenets of the Republican Party, the irony was delicious. Not to mention that Reagan wouldn’t have liked the airport being named after him before he died (his mind was already gone when the name change was ordered). I, myself, didn’t start calling it Reagan until after his death.
CIN is the identifier for theCarroll, IA airport. Cinncinnati in Iowa is a town in the sourthest corner along the Missouri border. It must have a population of under 500 because the Rand-McNally road atlas doesn’t list it.
I once saw an ambulance near LAX labeled “LAX EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM” (or something like that; I don’t remember the exact phrase). Truth in advertising!
They’re the ones who say, “Do they really need first aid? Wouldn’t second or third aid be enough?”
Ahh… but KCI used to be called “Mid-Continent International Airport.” The name change to Kansas City International Airport didn’t come until 1972.