About three or four years ago, management at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport traveled to Atlanta to meet with Delta Air Lines executives at the airline’s headquarters.

MSP is Delta’s second-largest hub, but the airline, which dominates the Twin Cities market, invested millions of dollars in other airports that handled fewer Delta flights.

“We said, ‘We think it’s time for some serious investment in Minneapolis,'” said Brian Ryks, executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which runs MSP. “After seeing what they had done in Seattle, New York, (Los Angeles) and Salt Lake City, they agreed. I think it was only a matter of time before they finally got around to it.”

Delta acknowledged that its investment in Minnesota was somewhat overdue.

“After the pandemic, we tried to invest across the United States, but I think we underinvested in Minneapolis given our location,” said David Hart, managing director of domestic network planning for Delta Air Lines. “We want to change that now.”

Delta is refocusing its efforts on Minnesota to maintain the airport’s reputation as a world-class hub. Critics have long cited Delta’s dominance in the Twin Cities as a reason for higher fares. Others have attributed some of those high fares to the strong presence of business travelers in MSP, who tend to pay higher prices.

Given the measurable economic impact a strong international airport has on a city and region, Minnesota is hoping for the airline’s success.