Article from The Tennessean: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2025/02/20/nashville-airport-bobby-joslin-ends-16-year-stint/78428415007/
Bobby Joslin, Nashville International Airport leader for 16 years, leaves board — for now
By Hadley Hitson
Nashville native Bobby Joslin spent the last 16 years on the board that oversees operations at Nashville International and John C. Tune airports, giving him an insider’s view of one of the nation’s fastest-growing centers for travel.
The most profound illustration of the airport’s complex workings, he said, is the terminal’s underbelly — where millions of suitcases glide by in all different directions heading to destinations across the globe.
“It’s like a city down there,” he said.
And it’s a city he’s going to miss.
After nearly two decades serving on the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority’s board of commissioners, Joslin decided this year that he will not seek reappointment from Mayor Freddie O’Connell for another seven-year term.
“I have a saying that if it ain’t fun, we ain’t going to do it,” Joslin said. “What we delivered out there for the board, the time and effort and energy that I put in out there, it’s time for me to pass it on to someone else.”
16 years of grand changes at BNA
Former Mayor Karl Dean appointed Joslin to the board in 2009 because of his business prowess and wealth of aviation knowledge as a pilot. His tenure as an airport leader coincided with the most monumental period of growth the Nashville airport has ever seen.
In his first year on the board, BNA saw 8.9 million passengers travel through it, and this year, projected annual passenger numbers are set to surpass 25 million. That’s a 180% jump.
During that time, the airport added dozens of nonstop flights and committed $4.49 billion to a master-planned expansion, including a new international arrivals facility, thousands of added parking spaces, an onsite hotel and completely restructured roadways to handle the increased traffic.
In 2018, when Joslin was chairman of the board, he played a significant role in gathering the support to bring British Airways to Nashville with a nonstop flight to London, the first international nonstop added since 1994. He remembers gathering everyone from then-Gov. Bill Haslam and Mayor Megan Berry to help with the recruiting efforts.
“But Nashville is an easy place to sell,” Joslin said. “That’s the best part.”
Sometime after the British Airways executives got backstage at a country music concert, Joslin said he knew the deal was done.
Transforming the board with the airport
During the same year as the British Airways success, the board went through a period of turmoil. After the board fired CEO Rob Wigington for financial mismanagement, Wigington sued for wrongful termination, specifically naming Joslin in the suit.
It resulted in the airport paying out a $2 million settlement.
Joslin said situations like that were the most surprising part of his time on the board.
“We had a lack of leadership in some departments,” he said. “It was an ugly time, but we made it through, came out better at the end.”
Now, under the leadership of current president and CEO Doug Kreulen, Joslin said the airport has never been stronger.
New international flights on their way
Because airport planning happens so far in advance, Joslin has a pretty good idea of what’s coming down the pipeline, including more nonstop flights overseas potentially announced in the next 18 months.
“You’ll see Frankfurt. You’ll see Paris. You know, you’re going to see some more destinations too,” Joslin said. “Sooner or later, we’re going to have a nonstop flight out of here to Asia.”
BNA is currently in the process of working with the Federal Aviation Administration to get approval to build a runway long enough for a direct flight to Asia.
‘We’ll see what happens’
Personally, Joslin said he’s looking forward to having more time to spend with his family and continuing to lead his custom sign company Joslin & Son Signs.
The only item left up in the air is the dispute between the state and Metro Nashville over which entity should appoint members to the Airport Authority. Traditionally, that power has been in the mayor’s hands with approval by Metro Council, but in 2023, the state legislature passed a law giving that power to the state officials.
The law was struck down, but the state filed an appeal that has yet to be decided.
Should the courts return oversight of the Airport Authority to the state — and term lengths return to four years instead of seven — Joslin is leaving the door open for a potential return.
“The court of appeals could come down tomorrow and say, ‘Hey, state, we’re going to give you back the airport,'” Joslin said. “If it does, we’ll see what happens.”
