MSP NOC January 2023 Meeting Update

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) Noise Oversight Committee (NOC) met last week on January 18, 2023.  At this meeting, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided an update on their VOR-MON (Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range - Minimum Operational Network) program. A VOR is a ground-based navigation system used for aircraft instrument flight procedures and navigation. These ground-based navigation systems will be replaced with GPS based Area Navigation (RNAV) procedures. The MON provides a conventional navigation system in the event of a loss of GPS signal. As part of this program, the MSP VOR (pictured) will be decommissioned by the Fall of 2025. As such, MSP flight procedures will be updated to utilize GPS based procedures. The NOC received an update from the FAA on the status and process for MSP procedure development and reviewed the proposed community engagement plan.

Additionally, the NOC received a forecast of air service activity in 2023 from the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), Delta Air Lines, and Sun Country Airlines. Average daily departures are anticipated to continue to rebound in 2023 and new routes and increased flight frequency are being added for both national and international destinations.

The NOC also received a summary of the 2022 MSP Fleet Mix and Nighttime Operations Report and the 2022 MSP Complaint Data Assessment. In 2022, two narrowbody aircraft, the Boeing 737-800 and the Airbus 321 flew the most, and second most number of operations at MSP, respectively. These were followed by the CRJ-900, a regional jet aircraft. Prior to 2022, regional jet aircraft were the most frequently operated aircraft at MSP dating back to 2004. Additionally in 2022, the total number of complaints and the total number of households filing complaints were down 19 and 12 percent respectively compared to the previous year. More information is provided in the presentation materials and full reports at metroairports.org.

The NOC is an advisory board to the MAC and is comprised of industry and community representatives who address aircraft noise issues associated with activity at MSP. The group meets on the third Wednesday of odd-numbered months.

The agenda and meeting materials for NOC meetings and information on how to participate in these meetings may be found at: NOC.