State seeks dismissal of Chattanooga airport authority lawsuit
The state of Tennessee is asking a Hamilton County Chancery Court to dismiss Chattanooga’s lawsuit to reverse an airport board takeover. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed the request, saying in part that Chattanooga doesn’t have standing to sue the state, nor has it shown any injury from a new state law giving the governor […]
The state of Tennessee is asking a Hamilton County Chancery Court to dismiss Chattanooga’s lawsuit to reverse an airport board takeover.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed the request, saying in part that Chattanooga doesn’t have standing to sue the state, nor has it shown any injury from a new state law giving the governor and Senate and House speakers the majority of appointments to boards that oversee airports in Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Tri-Cities. The legislation came after courts ruled a previous state effort to take over appointments to the Nashville airport authority was unconstitutional.
The filing is made on behalf of Gov. Bill Lee, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally.
The city of Chattanooga and the previous locally appointed Chattanooga airport board sued the state earlier this year to prevent the state-appointed board from taking over airport operations. The new board subsequently voted to withdraw from the lawsuit.
The situation in Chattanooga is similar to the case in Nashville where Metro Nashville and the former airport board sued the state, arguing a federal law prevents the Federal Aviation Administration from recognizing the new board until the legal dispute over changing the entity that operates the airport is resolved.
Skrmetti’s new filing says federal law does not require the FAA to take action, only that the agency’s administrator has the legal authority to approve a change “in the event there is disputed change in sponsorship.”