The Nashville International Airport has officially cut off all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring quotas for “minority” and “women-owned” businesses, due to a new federal guideline from the Trump administration.
The DEI cut from the airport comes after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14173, titled the “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” on January 21, 2025.
The order directs federally funded entities, including all airports regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to eliminate all DEI programs that grant any “preferential” treatment based on race or gender.
“Illegal DEI policies threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities,” Trump’s order reads.
Now, Nashville’s largest airport has announced that its “Department of Business Diversity Development” has reportedly been “restructured” and renamed as the “Department of Small Business Development,” according to the Nashville Tennessean.
The airport is also launching an MNAA Small Business Program, a “race- and gender-neutral” initiative aimed at opening opportunities to small businesses within the area that want a spot in one of the terminal’s retail or restaurant locations.
The DEI pivot is notable for an airport that allegedly received more than $29 million in FAA grants last year alone.
Airport CEO Doug Kreulen said the new program will still support local small businesses, but now can do so without DEI-based standards or requirements.
“Those 500 businesses will be carried over into this new one, and we’re going to come up with our new goals and objectives for how this program will ensure cost-effective solutions, contractors that value doing things on time and on budget, and how we move forward,” Nashville International Airport President Doug Kreulen said during the board’s meeting in July.
“I think it will be a big win for our local community as well, so they’ll continue to participate,” he added.