PANAMA CITY - The Airport Authority voted Tuesday to change the name of the new airport under construction near West Bay to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.

The name change, in a 3-2 vote, came a month after the board named the new airport the Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport, a label that drew criticism from some quarters because of the Panama City tag, officials said.

"We did receive quite a few comments from the public and other government agencies," airport Executive Director Randy Curtis said.

Board members also expressed doubt about the financial feasibility of constructing a 5,000-foot asphalt crosswind runway as a companion to the main 10,000-foot concrete runway before the airport's May 18 opening.

Curtis said prospective airlines for the new facility had made clear for two years that carriers hoped a new name would be chosen with a regional perspective to help marketing efforts.

Board Vice Chairman Bill Cramer protested that he thought the new name, with its Beaches moniker, made the Panhandle seem too "one dimensional."

"The goal is to grow the economy in new ways" other than just tourism, Cramer said.

He said the previous name, with its use of both "Northwest Florida" and "Panama City," accomplished the twin objectives of branding the region and letting visitors know the city they were flying into.

Most large airports in Florida use the home city in their official names, Cramer said, and Panama City had a lot of "brand equity."

Both Cramer and board member Gerry Clemons, a former Panama City mayor and father of current mayor Scott Clemons, voted against changing the name. Gerry Clemons said Panama City had spent millions of dollars over past years in efforts to keep the current airport afloat, and the city deserved the recognition.

In the end, though, he was philosophical about changing the name. "We made a lot of people mad, and that was kind of fun," he said.

Board members also discussed whether to re-issue bids for the crosswind runway and build it before the new airport's grand opening, when low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines is expected to land for the first time.

Board members pushed the decision back another week to receive more financial information, but a consensus seemed to form that construction of the asphalt stretch would have to wait until after the May 18 opening. The problem remains the cost of fill dirt that will be needed for the project, an expense that has risen since the original alternate bid in the 2007 contract with Phoenix Construction, a bid that has since expired.

Board Chairman Joe Tannehill said the board had about $15 million to construct the crosswind runway, a figure that might not be enough given the rising cost of transporting dirt to the site.

Phoenix president James Finch said the cost of dirt could be mitigated if it were taken from a nearby borrow pit owned by The St. Joe Co., rather than from other areas farther away such as one near Lynn Haven.

Other complications in re-issuing bids included the cost and time of compiling the bid proposal itself, and the necessity of asking the Department of Environmental Protection to issue new permits.

The board also looked at several fiscal alternatives, ranging from $300,000 to $1 million, that would effectively "put the site to sleep" until a decision would be made.

The area slated for the crosswind runway is currently being used for stormwater runoff ponds.