Veteran local businessman and Nashville Scene parent company owner Bill Freeman announced Wednesday evening he has stepped down from the Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) Board of Commissioners, effective immediately.
Bill Freeman
In a release, Freeman says the move comes, in part, so that he can spend time with his family, including wife Babs Freeman. In addition, he has suffered two strokes the past few years.
Freeman had served about three months of this term after joining the board in 2016. His time on the board — which now offers seven members — included a stint as its chairman.
The move follows Freeman’s 2023 announcement that he had stepped aside as president of local real estate firm Freeman Webb Company (read here). Bob Freeman, Bill’s son and a member of the state House of Representatives, now oversees the company.
“I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to serve my hometown in the development and continued success of our air travel needs,” Bill Freeman says in the release.
“The Metro Nashville Airport Authority can base its success on the quality of its board of commissioners, its staff and the leadership provided by MNAA President and CEO Doug Kreulen,” he adds. “His expertise and leadership have allowed our airports to grow and thrive more under his direction than in the history of Nashville’s air travel.”
The MNAA board made news in 2023 when the state passed legislation that eliminated the then-existing board and, in its place, named the bulk of the members for a newly invented governing body.
However, after Metro challenged the state effort in court, a three-judge panel unanimously ruled in October in favor of Metro, noting the state's effort was unconstitutional. The ruling allowed for the reinstatement of the prior all-Metro board. To counter, the state initiated an appeal in November.
Freeman’s career in real estate started in 1965. In 1979, he and the late Jimmy Webb co-founded Freeman Webb Company.
Longtime friends, Freeman and Webb created FW Publishing in 2018 to acquire from SouthComm Inc. the Scene, Nashville Post and Nfocus. The company also owns The News (created via the combination of The Green Hills News and Williamson Homepage). Webb died in April 2019. Bob Freeman joined his father's company following Webb's death.
Bill Freeman remains owner of FW Publishing.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell says Freeman’s insights as both a pilot and business owner “have been invaluable as Nashville International Airport has successfully navigated a time of unprecedented growth and success. We are grateful for his service to Nashville and wish him, his wife, Babs, and whole family all the best.”
O’Connell will now choose a replacement for the body that oversees a facility that registered a record 21.9 million passengers in 2023. Similarly, the airport recently saw the completion of a roughly $1.5 billion expansion.
This story was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
