NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nashville Banner) — This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter.
On Monday, the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed Metro’s lawsuit challenging the state takeover of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority as moot.
The original case dealt with a law passed in 2023 that removed the mayor of Nashville's authority to appoint all seven members of the board that runs Nashville International Airport. Instead, the board now consists of eight members, and the mayor, the speaker of the House, the speaker of the Senate and the governor all have two appointments.
Although the trial court and Court of Appeals had largely sided with Metro — and the high court’s five justices appeared largely unreceptive to the state’s position at oral arguments in February — the Supreme Court ruled that new legislation had addressed the issues raised by Metro’s claims. Passed in April, Senate Bill 2473 amended the previous law to apply to all regional and metropolitan airport authorities rather than just appearing to target Metro. This updated language allowed the state to bypass the part of the state constitution’s Home Rule provisions that protected local governments from targeted action from the state legislature. The bill also vacated the present board of commissioners for each airport authority in Tennessee.
In the summer of 2026, Metro also sued the Federal Aviation Administration in a Washington, D.C., court for its “unlawful failure to act” in response to the takeover. In July, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a preliminary injunction and wrote that Metro’s “alleged harm is better addressed in the pending district-court litigation between petitioner and Tennessee.”
In briefings, Metro pointed out that the General Assembly changed the law “after three years of litigation” and in the face of “an imminent decision from this Court” after oral arguments. Metro also argued that the General Assembly will pass more statutes intending to target Metro through “multiple, layered criteria.”
In its opinion, the court wrote that it was “not persuaded” and vacated the Court of Appeals’ judgment. The high court remanded the case to Davidson County Chancery Court, instructing it to enter an order dismissing the case as moot.
Following the implementation of the new law earlier this year, state leaders installed a new airport authority board, while Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Metro continued to recognize the old board, which continued to meet in parallel with the newly appointed board. The mayor had refused to appoint representatives to the state-controlled board.
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Our viewers are the best! When Hannah McDonald highlighted the plight of Serenity Sumler, so many of you immediately stepped up. Serenity stopped to help a driver after spotting a wreck and was hit by another car, resulting in terrible injuries. Without the funds to pay for physical therapy, she was at a loss. Because of the kindness of others - she now can rehab and get back to school. Best of luck to her as she trains to become a chef!
- Carrie Sharp
