Calif. airport renamed Bob Hope Airport

Members of the Hope family gathered Wednesday with celebrities and politicians to officially change the name of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport to Bob Hope Airport.

The comedian had parked his private plane at the airfield since 1985 and embarked from there on many trips to entertain U.S. troops. Dolores Hope, making a rare public appearance since her husband's death on July 27, told the crowd about waiting for him to return from the South Pacific in 1943.

"Our son Zachary, who was 5, kept saying `goodbye, Daddy.' He didn't know whether his father was coming or going," she said.

The unveiling was scheduled for Dec. 17 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight. Hope was born that same year on May 29 in England.

The airport first opened on Memorial Day weekend in 1930 and attracted fledgling airlines as well as pioneer pilots like Howard Hughes, Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh.

In 1940, Lockheed bought the facility to accommodate its expanding defense work. The airport was sold to the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena in 1978, which now operate it jointly. The airport handles 5 million passengers a year.