Nashville officials plan to file a lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law that would move appointment authority for the board overseeing Nashville International Airport and John C. Tune Airport to the state.
Mayor Freddie O'Connell said June 10 that he directed Metro's Department of Law to challenge the legislation, and the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board voted Wednesday to join the expected case. The law is scheduled to take effect July 1, giving the state authority over appointments to the Metro Nashville Airport Authority and four other airport authorities across Tennessee.
Under the current structure, the board members are appointed by Nashville's mayor and confirmed by the Metro Council. That board hires the airport's president and chief executive officer, approves major projects and helps guide long-term development and operations at the two airports it oversees.
The dispute is the latest turn in a yearslong fight between Nashville and the state over control of the airport authority. Metro Nashville challenged a 2023 law that tried to restructure the board, won in Davidson County Chancery Court and then again when a three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld that ruling. The case is now pending before the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Metro officials say the new law runs into federal limits on how the state can take control without the consent of the current governing board. The city says 2024 federal legislation requires approval from an existing airport sponsor before certain governance changes can occur. State lawmakers, meanwhile, have argued that airport authorities are public entities created under state law and are subject to legislative oversight, while supporters say the measure creates a broader statewide framework rather than targeting Nashville alone.
Wally Dietz said Metro plans to seek an injunction to block the law from taking effect while the litigation plays out, and officials said the lawsuit could be filed as early as Wednesday. With the deadline only weeks away, the immediate question is whether the courts move quickly enough to stop the July 1 transfer of power before it starts.
