Airport Beef

During this morning’s media roundtable, Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced his plan to replace a vacated commissioner seat on the airport board with soon-to-retire Metro Law Director Wally Dietz.

“Just last week, we learned of a new vacancy through resignation on the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board, and this week I nominated Wally Dietz to be the newest commissioner on the only lawful airport board,” said O’Connell, throwing some not-so-subtle shade on the new airport board recently established by the state.

Dietz has been working on Metro's lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law that shifts control of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority from local-appointed officials to state-appointed officials.

“We wrote to the FAA on May 20 with resolutions from the Metro Council and from the Metro Nashville Airport Authority refusing the takeover, citing federal law section 757, which says in the case of a disputed transfer of control, the FAA will not recognize a new board pending a result of the litigation,” said Dietz.

After allegedly getting ghosted by the FAA, Metro Legal filed an emergency motion for a stay, asking the federal court in the D.C. Circuit to direct the FAA not to recognize the state-appointed board. Shortly after, the DOJ issued a letter stating the FFA will not recognize the state board until July 27.

Before the new law, Nashville's seven-member airport authority board was appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Metro Council. Under the 2026 law, which was not successfully blocked by litigation before taking effect on July 1, the current board is dissolved and replaced by a nine-member board where six members are appointed by the governor and legislative speakers, giving state officials a clear majority.

The new state-controlled board recently voted to withdraw the Airport Authority from Metro's lawsuit challenging the new state law. The previous Metro-appointed board had voted to join the lawsuit, arguing the law is unconstitutional. The new board reversed that decision at its first meeting.

It’s unclear whether the new board's decisions actually carry any weight or whether it will continue conducting business as usual while the lawsuit plays out. The uncertainty evokes the chaos depicted in the 2008 film Valkyrie, when conflicting messages sent over teletype lines left officials scrambling to determine whether Adolf Hitler was dead or alive and who was actually in charge.