You are invited to Experience MSP.

Join us for an opportunity to learn more about Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and how the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) is planning for its future.

Pre-recorded videos highlighting the MSP Airport long-term planning process will be available for viewing beginning March 28 and will include videos about the current stage of the plan, updated aircraft activity forecasts, existing landside (non-airfield) conditions, the airfield capacity study, and how people can stay engaged with the process.

Following the launch of these videos, a live virtual event will be held on Tuesday, April 12 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., which the public is invited to attend to engage with the planning team, ask questions and provide feedback.

Learn more about this event, the planning process and sign up to receive updates about future events at this website. Information about how to participate in the April 12 event is found here.

Experience MSP is a series of four events for the public to learn about the MSP Airport long term planning process and to provide input. The Metropolitan Airports Commission - owner and operator of MSP Airport - welcomes your interest and input.

Naomi Pesky, vice president of the Metropolitan Airports Commission's Strategy & Stakeholder Engagement Division, was named recently as one of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Women in Business honorees.

Pesky is among the first round of honorees announced by the journal, which is celebrating its 25th year of recognizing some of the Twin Cities top female business and community leaders.

Pesky joined the MAC in May 2018 to oversee all communications, marketing, community outreach, air service development, enterprise sustainability and strategic planning. Prior to her tenure at the MAC, Pesky served as vice president of external relations at Hennepin Theatre Trust, where she led the marketing, communications and development teams. In earlier roles, Pesky has also served as director of marketing and communications at The Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation, and held multiple marketing leadership roles at General Mills. She’s also an active community volunteer, and currently serves on GREATER MSP’s Make it MSP Leadership Council.

Fifty-one individuals, plus a Career Achievement winner, will receive this year's award from the Business Journal, which acknowledges their outstanding professional achievements, leadership qualities and contributions to the broader Twin Cities community. They represent a wide swath of industries and include entrepreneurs growing their businesses, high-level executives at global corporations, and nonprofit and government leaders.

For high-school age youths looking to explore aviation careers, the Minnesota Aviation Career Education Camp (ACE) sessions coming up this summer in the Twin Cities are a unique opportunity.

Now in its 31^st year, the six-day ACE camp educates young people about aviation-related careers through hands-on access to many aspects of airport and airline operations.

For the program, participants and staff are based at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, but their activities will take them to several airports.

“You get to go behind the scenes in all kinds of areas, including the ramp at MSP Airport, get inside an airline flight simulator, hear from Delta Air Lines pilots, and go up in small aircraft,” said Joe Czech, who’s on the board of directors for ACE and is also one of the camp counselors. Czech was a student at the ACE camp in the 1990s and is now in his 15^th year as an air traffic controller, working at MSP. “The camp is a full week of experiences that you can’t get anywhere else.”

Full information is available at the ACE website. Tuition is charged and the program has scholarships available. Applications for the 60 available positions are due by April 15.

Excitement is building for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, which comes to Minneapolis this weekend, April 1-3, and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is ready to welcome fans from across the country.

More than 25,000 visitors are expected for the games over the weekend, when the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis hosts the semi-finals and the national championship game. A couple of fun activities to look out for at MSP include: 

• Arts@MSP is sponsoring performances at the airport starting today, Thursday, March 31, which is the anticipated busiest day for fan arrivals.
• Large wall-mounted tournament brackets are displayed in three locations (entrance to Concourse F; baggage claim level; and at Terminal 2 to the right of the ticketing counters), providing fans a daily update and photo opportunity.

The two semi-final games will be held Friday, April 1, with the championship game occurring on Sunday, April 3. There are many other opportunities for fans to get involved with March Madness, as well, including Tourney Town at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Spring break is upon us, and the month of March consistently marks one of MSP Airport's busiest times of the year.

Whatever travel plans you're considering, MSP Airport wants to hear from prospective travelers through a survey that gauges attitudes about and interest in air travel. The answers are helping shape the MSP travel experience as the pandemic becomes more manageable. 

Even if you’ve already taken the survey, please consider taking it again, as your thoughts and answers may have changed over time. We also add new questions each month. This month, we're asking travelers what international destinations they'd like to see added at MSP with a direct flight.

Survey takers have shown interest in MSP's safety initiatives related to the pandemic, which are all a part of our Travel Confidently program, and the webpage will give you the details.