Updated Feb. 19, 2026, 11:30 a.m. CT
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority unanimously approved a $34 million, 40-year deal with The Boring Company on Feb. 18, marking a major step toward a tunnel system to connect Nashville International Airport with downtown.
Hours after the board meeting concluded, The Boring Co. and its founder Elon Musk took to the Musk-owned social media platform X to respond to the momentum.
“Cool,” Musk said in a post, replying to a statement from The Boring Co. thanking MNAA for its “great partnership.”
As of 11 a.m. Feb. 19, Nashville airport’s licensing agreement with the Boring Company was trending on X, receiving more than 3,000 comments. While many of the comments were in support of Musk’s endeavor, comments criticized the deal-making process.
This is Musk’s first personal public comment about the Music City Loop, beyond resharing statements from The Boring Co.
The airport board’s united approval comes after more than eight months of negotiations, nine drafts of deal terms and continued scrutiny from community members and MNAA commissioners alike.
“This helps us in the long run,” MNAA President and CEO Doug Kreulen said. “If The Boring Co. is successful with our partnership here, this money that you see forecasted up top, that’s going to allow the airport authority to pay for a runway extension, pay for a Terminal II, pay for other improvements that our passengers want.”
MNAA’s Finance Committee advanced the deal one week earlier, sending it to a full board vote, but several commissioners expressed concerns over safety, liability and transparency. During the week that followed, The Boring Co. reached out to those commissioners to assuage their worries.
“I had the opportunity to meet with The Boring Co. after our meeting last week,” Commissioner Glenda Glover said. “One concern was a lack of community participation in this process, so The Boring Co. has committed to just being more engages with the community. That’s one thing I was appreciative of.”
Inside the Boring Co. deal with Nashville airport and more than $300M potential revenue
As specified in terms set forth in a letter of intent, The Boring Co. will pay the airport an annual licensing fee of $300,000 in exchange for the use of 933,309 square feet of airport property. That fee will increase 3% annually to adjust for inflation.
The project will not require any financial investment from MNAA, and The Boring Co. agreed to reimburse the airport $600,000 for funds expended on legal and engineering fees.
In all, the airport will receive $34 million in licensing fees from The Boring Co. over the next 40 years of the licensing term, plus two five-year extension options. In that time, MNAA estimates it could also receive over $300 million in operating fees from The Boring Co.
Once the tunnel is operational, The Boring Co. will pay MNAA a fee of $5 per drop-off and pick-up at the airport, similar to the fee that rideshare companies pay. MNAA officials said $309 million is a “conservative estimate” of projected operations revenue.
Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to The Tennessean.
