Airport Commission to Vote On Noise Today

Monday at 1 p.m., the Metropolitan Airports Commission is scheduled to meet to consider endorsing a new suite of technologies, championed by the FAA, that could send hundreds of airplanes flying over a narrow swath of Southwest Minneapolis.

Called RNAV and PBN, the technologies would allow air traffic controllers to concentrate flight paths—currently scattered across much of Southwest Minneapolis—into a select few "highways in the sky." This would result in a small section of blocks seeing a dramatic increase in overflights.

Local residents and elected officials have been lobbying MAC not to endorse the new technologies yet, effectively postponing their implementation in Minneapolis for a year. Over the weekend, news emerged that MAC commissioners were bending to the pressure.

If you plan to observe the commissioners' meeting, MAC offers the following instructions:

All meetings of the commission and its committees are open to the public.

All meetings are held at Terminal 1-Lindbergh inside security in the Commission Chambers located on the Mezzanine Level in the Mall above Chili's Too Restaurant.

Members of the public must complete a form and present a government issued photo ID at the Information Booth on the terminal's Tram Level to gain admittance. For more information, call 612-726-8100.