About the MAC
The Minnesota Legislature created the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) in 1943 to promote the efficient, safe handling of air commerce and to develop the full potential of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area as an aviation center.
As a public corporation of the state, the MAC generates the revenues it needs to operate through rents and user fees, not general tax appropriations. Bonding and financing authority – along with MAC-generated cash and state and federal aviation grants and fees – fund capital investments in the MAC’s seven-airport system. The organization maintains an AA-minus senior bond rating, among the highest of any U.S. airport operator.
Notable actions the board took in 2022
- Approving the MAC’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, which includes the MAC’s new purpose statement - To provide exceptional airport experiences so Minnesota thrives (November 2022).
- Approving extending the duration of MSP’s noise mitigation program (April 2022). This new 2025-2032 noise mitigation program will provide continuity to a program that has existed since 1992 and provided sound mitigation improvements to more than 15,000 single- and multi-family homes in neighborhoods near the airport at a cost of $510 million.
2022 Awards
Every year, the MAC receives numerous awards for its work across a variety of disciplines, such as financial management, construction projects, airport concessions, winter operations and excellence in customer service.
In early 2022, Airports Council International (ACI-NA) named MSP Airport the "Best Airport in North America for 2021 – the fifth time MSP received the title in six years.
The ACI-NA’s Airport Service Quality program scores airports based on customer surveys asking passengers to rank their experience across 34 satisfaction indicators.
To celebrate winning Best Airport in North America, the MAC thanked MSP employees in August with goodie bags and cold treats from an ice cream truck on the airfield.