Tag: Metro Nashville Airport Authority

Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board Votes to Ratify 19 Actions Taken During State-Appointed Board’s Tenure

Tom Pappert

The city-appointed Metro Nashville Airport Authority board voted unanimously on Wednesday to ratify 19 actions taken during the tenure of the previous board, which state officials appointed some of its members in accordance with a new Tennessee law.

After the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law in June, the Nashville mayor, Tennessee governor, and top two lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly would each select two members for the board. The board was selected and began operating, but a ruling by a panel of three judges at the Tennessee Chancery Court agreed with Metro Nashville’s argument that the law violates the Tennessee Constitution because it only applied to one Tennessee city.

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Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti Files Appeal over Who Appoints Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board

Tom Pappert
Skrmetti Nashville Airport

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a notice of appeal to the injunction issued by a three-judge panel in October which determined the Tennessee General Assembly violated the state Constitution with its new law changing how the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board is selected.

Under the new law, two board members would be selected by the Nashville mayor, Tennessee governor, and top two lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly, respectively. When the injunction was filed, the board went back to its previous selection process, by which members are picked by Nashville’s mayor and approved by the Metro Nashville Council.

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Tennessee Has 30 Days to Appeal After Court Restores Previous Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board

Tom Pappert

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) has 30 days to appeal the Tuesday decision from a three-judge panel that ruled the legislature violated the state constitution with its new law governing the Metro Nashville Airport Authority.

Metro Nashville filed the lawsuit after the Tennessee Legislature passed a law changing how the board’s members are selected, with the new law allowing the mayor, governor, and House and Senate speakers to each select two appointees. Tuesday’s ruling invalidated this law, and restored the board’s previous members who were all appointed by Nashville’s mayor and approved by the Metro Nashville council, effective immediately.

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Fired CEO of Metro Nashville Airport Sues for Wrongful Termination

Admin

Following an internal review that concluded in October 2017, the Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) fired its President and CEO, Robert Wigington. Among its findings were that the Airport chief fostered a ‘culture of secrecy and concealment.’ The decision to remove Wigington – under whose six years of leadership the Nashville International Airport was recognized as one of the “Best Airports in the World” – was approved unanimously by the Authority, who added that because Wigington’s removal was for cause, he would not be entitled to receive a severance package. Among the laundry-list of financial irregularities, the MNAA cited a substantial agreement involving $2.6 million in incentives to British Airways for a direct flight to London announced in August. However, Wigington contends his removal is due to a series of serious medial issues – namely, liver cancer, failure, subsequent transplant, and recovery – and he has retained Kevin H. Sharp, Managing Partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp’s Nashville office, and Hannah M. Wolf, an Associate at Sanford Heisler Sharp, represent him in a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination and retaliation. In a statement obtained by The Star, Wigington’s attorney, Kevin Sharp said, “It’s clear that the Airport Authority was very satisfied with Robert’s performance until he had the misfortune of developing liver cancer and notified the…

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Metro Nashville Airport Authority Fires CEO Rob Wigington

Wendy Wilson

The Metro Nashville Airport Authority on Wednesday fired its CEO for leading a “culture of secrecy and concealment.” Rob Wigington, who went on medical leave in July, will not receive a severance package because he was fired with cause, reports the Nashville Business Journal. The vote to remove Wigington was unanimous. Doug Kreulen has been tapped as interim CEO. In a written report provided by Nashville Business Journal, the first reason board commissioners gave for Wigington’s dismissal was his failure to disclose $2.6 million in incentives for the British Airways direct flight to London announced in August. The board also said he put the Airport Authority in the position of announcing and beginning a $1.2 billion vision plan for Nashville International Airport without having in place a chief financial officer, chief legal officer and chief people officer and no immediate plan for filling those positions. In addition, the board said Wigington gave excessive severance packages to departing executives, and failed to address significant management issues and communicate with the board about fraud uncovered within the Airport Authority. Board commissioners said that “a perception exists the Commissioners do not know all the things they should know, in accordance with employment contract provisions concerning oversight…

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Nashville To Get Direct Flights To London

Wendy Wilson

  Nashville International Airport will offer direct flights to London on British Airways starting in May 2018, Gov. Bill Haslam announced at a press conference Tuesday morning. Haslam was joined at the press conference by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and Simon Brooks, British Airways senior vice president for North America. It will be the first time the city has offered nonstop flights to London since American Airlines scaled back its operations more than 20 years ago. Tuesday’s announcement followed years of effort on the part of community and business leaders. “This is an exciting day in Nashville, an exciting day for the state of Tennessee,” Haslam said. “It’s a day that many of us have worked long and hard to see happen.” Haslam said that when he was traveling overseas about a month ago, “no matter where we went throughout Europe, there was a great deal of excitement about this flight.” The flights will help facilitate business travel between various European cities as well as various cities in Tennessee, not just Nashville, said Haslam, who expects travel to outperform projections. “This is truly a game changer for the city, and the region and the state,” he said. Brooks of British…

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