 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) recently earned two major industry health, cleaning and safety accreditations following its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The accreditations began with the work of the Metropolitan Airports Commission’s (MAC) Facilities Management department. In the spring of 2020 MAC employees at MSP formed a COVID-19 response team to enhance cleaning protocols throughout MSP’s terminals and public areas.
The first accreditation MSP earned was from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), which is a division of the International Supply Association (ISSA), a worldwide cleaning industry association. To achieve GBAC’s Star Facility accreditation, MSP demonstrated compliance with the program’s 20 elements, ranging from cleaning protocols to work practices, health and safety measures, and emergency preparedness.
A second accreditation -- from the Airport Council International’s Airport Health Accreditation program -- assessed how well MSP’s health and mitigation measures aligned with ICAO’s Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) Recommendations. This accreditation demonstrates to passengers, employees, and government partners that MSP is prioritizing health and safety in its facilities. The assessment included physical distancing strategies, physical layout, protecting employees and passenger communications, among other elements.
The work to support the accreditation process was led by Scott Skramstad, assistant director, MSP Operations/Facilities, and included input and feedback from departments across the MAC.
Even before the pandemic, MSP had already been named the best airport in North America in its size category for terminal and washroom cleanliness.
“These accreditations require the highest standards for facility cleanliness, safety and operational measures,” said Brian Ryks, CEO of the MAC, which operates MSP. “The accreditations are confirmation that through our Travel Confidently MSP program, we are prioritizing the health and safety of travelers and employees in meaningful ways.”
 Flight activity at Airlake Airport in Lakeville.
While commercial air travel has started to recover a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, passenger and flight numbers at airports across the United States continue to be significantly down from previous years.
Yet in the case of the Metropolitan Airport Commission’s (MAC) general aviation (or Reliever) airports, takeoffs and landings in 2020 show a different trend.
Takeoffs and landings -- or operations -- at the MAC’s system of six Reliever Airports increased by 6,381 flights over 2019, equal to a 2 percent increase in operations across the six airports in 2020. Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) located in Eden Prairie, MN, and Airlake Airport (LVN) located in Lakeville, MN, were the largest contributors to the increase. Operations at FCM were up 19 percent- nearly 20,000 operations - over 2019, while LVN activity increased by 5 percent over 2019 with just short of 1,500 additional operations.
Those numbers come as no surprise, as some operations records were set at FCM in 2020. On May 12, FCM was the 13th busiest airport in the country, and on June 19 FCM marked its eighth busiest day of the past decade with 757 flights.
One of the catalysts for the increase in operations at FCM was the temporary closure of many universities. Students who had enrolled in aviation programs around the United States returned home to the Twin Cities to continue their instruction at one of the many flight schools located at the MAC’s system of Reliever Airports.
On the flip side, due to a decrease in business travel in 2020, St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) recorded a 26 percent decrease in operations while the remaining three Reliever Airports – Lake Elmo (21D), Anoka County-Blaine (ANE), and Crystal (MIC) saw no greater than a 5 percent decrease in operations, with ANE only down 1 percent.
 Total passenger traffic at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) fell to 14.9 million in 2020, 62 percent less than in 2019, based on year-end data released recently by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which operates MSP. The severe drop in passengers echoes similar significant losses experienced at other U.S. airports and airlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to take a toll on global air travel.
Prior to the pandemic, MSP had ten consecutive years of total passenger growth, reaching a record 39 million passengers in 2019. MSP was trending to surpass 2019 levels into early March of last year, when the pandemic forced a dramatic global decline in passenger demand and flights. MSP passenger levels dropped more than 95 percent under pre-pandemic levels by late April.
“We experienced the largest drop in air travel demand in aviation history in 2020. It will take years to recover,” said Brian Ryks, CEO of the MAC. “December 2020 brought some of the busiest travel days since the pandemic began, but still far below normal. We hope to see a significant increase in demand in the latter half of 2021, particularly in leisure travel, as the COVID-19 vaccination program moves forward. It will likely take longer to see meaningful recovery in the business and international travel sectors.”
For the full report on year-end numbers and some data per airline, visit this page.
The year-end statistical report on MSP operations is available for download on this page.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) developed a multi-faceted approach to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, and MSP continues those efforts today.
Looking back at 2020 and ahead to this year, Rick King, the MAC's Chair, details in this message how the airport emphasized passenger safety during the pandemic, and the plan for a recovery as vaccinations roll out and passenger levels start to increase.
|
Responses from a traveler sentiment survey collected since last summer – and prompted by the downturn in air travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- show that 41 percent of respondents would be willing to fly tomorrow.
The survey has helped guide Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s (MSP) modifications to the MSP travel experience in the COVID-19 era.
How are you feeling about air travel? Even if you’ve taken the survey before, feel free to respond again, as we’re tracking sentiment over time.
To date, survey results have shown that travelers continue to be most interested in MSP's safety initiatives, such as the increased presence of hand sanitizer dispensers, the face mask requirement and the airport’s efforts to increase physical distancing.
Thank you for your continued interest in helping us make air travel as safe and comfortable as possible.
|
