MSP among winners of inaugural AirportNEXT industry awards

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) earned industry recognition through a new aviation awards program established to track the stakeholder sentiment about airports.

During the past six months, MSP was among 24 airports across the U.S. and Canada to participate in the pilot project that created an initial database of stakeholder sentiment about airports. At the award ceremony last week, MSP earned top recognition for the services category, which measured stakeholder perception about accessibility services, information services, retail facilities, post-security food and beverage facilities, and other infrastructure and facilities amenities.

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, announced the launch of the full AirportNEXT program at its annual conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. When fully implemented, the program will validate and expand the existing database of stakeholder sentiments regarding airport operations and effectiveness and help airports evaluate how best to serve stakeholders in their communities.

The awards celebrate the achievements of airports that led the way in operational and stakeholder engagement categories, highlighting a commitment to excellence and innovation in the aviation industry.

“We are pleased to earn this recognition for our outstanding services, and it means that much more coming straight from our MSP stakeholders,” said Brian Ryks, CEO and executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which owns and operates MSP. “Our purpose at the MAC is to provide exceptional airport experiences so Minnesota thrives, and it is great to hear from the people we most frequently engage with about how we are accomplishing that.”

“Airports work around the clock to build strong partnerships across the local communities they serve,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “Each of this year’s winners have demonstrated leadership, vision and collaboration with their stakeholders. We congratulate each of the airports that participated in our inaugural year and look forward to growing the AirportNEXT program for next year.”

The first annual AirportNEXT awards are based on feedback received about infrastructure and facilities and stakeholder alignment. The program received more than 200,000 data points about airports. More information about the program is available on the AirportNEXT website at www.airportnext.org.