Wayne T. Price

FLORIDA TODAY

MELBOURNE — It seems a dogfight is under way between the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) and the Melbourne-based Orlando Melbourne International Airport.

GOAA Executive Director Phillip N. Brown early this month fired off a letter to his counterpart in Melbourne, Greg Donovan, saying he objects to the name "Orlando Melbourne International Airport" because it's "misleading and confusing to the public." Brown also called the Melbourne airport's website strategy deceptive and inaccurate in noting its proximity to "beach side Orlando."

Brown is calling for the Melbourne Airport Authority to stop using the name "Orlando" in its marketing efforts and to disclose in its online efforts that Melbourne is 70 miles from Orlando and not "associated with the city of Orlando."

GOAA, at its monthly meeting on Wednesday, also voted to hire a law firm to study any trademark violations and to look for legal remedies to the dispute.

For his part, Donovan is refusing to have his wings clipped.

In a follow-up correspondence to Brown on Monday, Donovan writes the two airports compete for similar markets and "have overlapping catchment areas."

"We believe that consumers should have options when making traveling decisions to best suit their needs and (MLB) offers a lower cost, less congested alternative to quickly enjoy the beaches, cruises and area attractions," Donovan says in his letter.

Orlando International Airport (MCO) with 40 million-plus travelers each year is one of the busiest airports in the United States. Among its major carriers are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United.

The Melbourne airport (MLB) has fewer than 500,000 passengers annually and two major carriers -— Delta and American. It has seen expansion with smaller carriers: Elite Airways offers flights to New York and Maine, Porter Airlines to Toronto, Canada. NewLeaf will begin service between Melbourne and Canada to start next month.

On the business side, the airport has seen huge manufacturing and high-tech aviation expansions by Embraer Jets, Northrop Grumman Corp. and AeroMod International.

For about eight years, Melbourne has used the word "Orlando" in marketing efforts when trying to lure to Brevard passengers and carriers outside the Central Florida area. Last November, however, it began referring to itself as Orlando Melbourne International Airport in local marketing efforts also.

The Melbourne airport's two web sites, mlbair.com and TheOrlandoAirport.com, says the Melbourne airport is "within 10 minutes of beach side Orlando."

Donovan noted it's fairly common practice for smaller airports to associate names with bigger communities, citing as examples Orlando-Sanford International Airport, Chicago Rockford International Airport and Manchester Boston Regional Airport.

Further, Donovan questioned the use of GOAA's marketing material that lists local companies in the Orlando area to include Harris Corp., Embraer and Rockwell Collins. All three are tenants at the Melbourne airport.

"If you believe that we are separate markets, why are companies located on our campus included in MCO advertising," Donovan asked. "You even go as far as to state that these MLB tenants 'are in the Orlando area.' "

Larry Dale, the former mayor of Sanford who also retired in September 2015 as head of the Orlando Sanford International Airport after 14 years, said he couldn't recall too many problems from GOAA about the similarities in the airports' names.

"They rattled and ranted for a while about the name when I was mayor," Dale said. "But it never materialized into anything."

Dale said GOAA probably backed off its criticism as that authority's membership and leadership changed over the years and the newer people decided it wasn't worth the effort in pushing Orlando Sanford to change its moniker.

Contact Price at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Fla2dayBiz.

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