MAC Facts: History of the MAC

In the early 1940s, aviation in the Twin Cities area was growing through commercial flights, airmail service and military operations. Believing that the Twin Cities had missed becoming a big hub for rail traffic, civic leaders were determined not to miss the boom in aviation and airline service for lack of a major airport.

By 1943, the idea had gained momentum and the State of Minnesota established the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) airport authority to provide for coordinated aviation services and to promote the efficient, safe, and economical handling of air commerce throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

At the time, Wold-Chamberlain Field, renamed the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in 1948, was controlled by the Minneapolis Park Board, and the city of St. Paul controlled Holman Field. The new law converted control of those facilities to the new commission. In August 1944, the MAC officially assumed control of Wold-Chamberlain and Holman Field.

The law authorized the MAC to develop other airports within 25 miles of the core of Minneapolis and St. Paul.  Later legislation expanded that authority to within 35 miles of each city’s downtown. The MAC now owns and operates MSP and six smaller general aviation airports within the metro area.

The MAC is governed by a 15-member board of commissioners appointed by Minnesota's governor and the mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The MAC operates much like a city, including having our own police and fire departments. The MAC and its airports are funded through rents and fees paid by airport users, not by general tax dollars.

For decades, the MAC has been engaging communities, airport operators and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in cooperative efforts to reduce aircraft noise impacts associated with MSP and the MAC's six reliever airports.

Through coordinated efforts with communities in the Twin Cities Minnesota metropolitan area and airport users, the MAC strives to develop effective noise reduction solutions and to provide pertinent, understandable information.  The MAC facilitates the noise sensitive operation of the MAC's system of airports through collaborative efforts employing available resources and technologies in a fiscally responsible manner optimizing the benefits of noise reduction for the airport's surrounding communities and users of the MAC airport system.

In MSP's earliest days, nearby neighborhoods were not greatly affected by occasional aircraft noise. By the mid-1960s, as communities expanded and air travel increased, aircraft noise surfaced as a significant community concern. Realizing the importance of addressing aircraft noise issues in communities, the MAC created the Metropolitan Aircraft Sound Abatement Council (MASAC) in 1969 to address aircraft noise issues. Some of MASAC's efforts resulted in the elimination of training flights at MSP, the addition of a noise abatement specialist to the MAC staff and the establishment of a noise complaint hotline to handle noise complaint calls and to provide information to residents around MSP.

MASAC disbanded in 2000 and the MAC established a Blue Ribbon Panel to develop a new framework for an aircraft noise advisory committee. The MSP Noise Oversight Committee (NOC) was established in 2002. The NOC identifies, studies, and analyzes airport noise issues and solutions; provides policy recommendations or options to the MAC Planning, Development and Environment Committee and full Commission regarding airport noise issues; monitors compliance with established noise policies at MSP; and ensures the collection of information and dissemination to the public.

More information about the history of the MAC is available at https://metroairports.org/about-us/our-history.