Court Allows State-Appointed Nashville Airport Board To Remain In Charge As Lawsuit Precedes

Photo: A Delta Airlines plane taxis down a runway at Nashville International Airport. Photo Credit: John Partipilo

By Adam Friedman [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –

A board appointed by state leaders will remain in charge of Nashville’s airport while a lawsuit over control continues.

A three-judge panel ruled against Metro Nashville’s ask for a temporary injunction on a state law that went into effect on July 1, reconstituting the airport board.

The panel ruled that Metro Nashville should have filed its lawsuit before the law went into effect if they wanted to stop it from taking effect.

“Metro failed to act with reasonable promptness,” the ruling said. “The court cautions the parties as well as the public that nothing in this order should be constructed as indicative of our view of the merits of Metro’s constitutional claims.”

Gov. Bill Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Nashville Mayor John Cooper are each given two appointments on the new board overseeing airport operations. Before the state preemption law, the Nashville mayor appointed all the airport board members.

The state’s takeover of the airport board was one of several pieces of legislation passed by state Republican lawmakers in response to the Metro Nashville Council blocking a bid to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.

The Democratic-led council and state have been at odds for years, but an escalations in tensions started in early 2022 when the state split up Nashville’s U.S. Congressional district.