The name line: six names over one field

1933 — 2014

The airport has been renamed five times, and each name dates: It opened in 1933 as Bendix Municipal Airport, and flew as Bendix Field through the county purchase into the county era, when it became the St. Joseph County Airport — county operation from 1938 by the authority's financial reports, with the confusion, printed in the first-field entry above, that 1940s press also attached the county airport's name to the old northeast field. On 1 January 1974, the day the airport authority took over, the name changed to Michiana Regional Airport, taking the region's own coined name. In 1993, by the authority's financial-report profile, it became the Michiana Regional Transportation Center, the name that marked the multimodal terminal after the South Shore's arrival — a rail-side source dates the change 1992, the year the trains actually moved, and both datings are printed. On 1 January 2000 it became South Bend Regional Airport, and on 23 April 2014, by the authority's announcement of that date, South Bend International Airport. The Tribune's account of the 2000 change ("Airport Will Get New Name Again," 1 December 1999) and its report of the first day under that name ("Flight into a New Era," 2 January 2000) bracket the Regional era exactly. The federal record has since caught up with the current name once more: a Federal Register final rule published in February 2026, effective 14 May 2026, amends the airport's Class C airspace description to read "South Bend International Airport" to match the master record — a paperwork change only, with no boundary moved.

Sources:

1. St. Joseph County Airport Authority, "History" (flysbn.com) — the full name line: Bendix Municipal Airport; Bendix Field – St. Joseph County Airport; Michiana Regional Airport; Michiana Regional Transportation Center; South Bend Regional Airport; South Bend International Airport.
2. St. Joseph County Airport Authority, FY2005 CAFR — Michiana Regional Airport from 1 January 1974; Michiana Regional Transportation Center from 1993.
3. South Bend Tribune, 1 December 1999 and 2 January 2000 — South Bend Regional Airport from 1 January 2000; St. Joseph County Airport Authority press release, 23 April 2014, and the Tribune of 24 April 2014 — South Bend International Airport from 23 April 2014.
4. Federal Register, February 2026 — final rule amending the Class C airspace description to "South Bend International Airport," effective 0901 UTC 14 May 2026, no boundary change.