A decade-long $600 million renovation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is set to be completed this fall.

The goal was to reduce congestion, increase capacity and improve passenger flow in the pre-security area in Terminal 1, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Here’s what’s new:

Renovations in Terminal 1

The Terminal 1 pre-security area was expanded by 17,000 square feet and security screening was consolidated from six checkpoints to two, according to the airports commission.

Eleven larger baggage carousels were installed to accommodate the current and anticipated number of passengers.

New baggage carousels that were built to accommodate the increase in passengers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. (Kari Jo Skogquist / Metropolitan Airports Commission)

The renovations also include additional seating and new restrooms equipped with accessibility features like adult changing tables.

The projects were funded through General Airport Revenue Bonds, passenger facility charges and the airports commission, according to Jeff Lea, the manager of strategic communications for the commission.

The renovations allow the airlines and the Transportation Security Administration to handle peak demand and perform efficiently, Lea said, as well as make more space for future increases in passenger numbers.

MSP is the 17th-busiest airport in the United States. The airports commission estimates that annual passenger numbers will increase from 37.2 million in 2025 to over 50 million by 2040.

Sixteen airlines operate at the airport and it’s the second-largest hub for Delta Air Lines. It also serves as the home base for Sun Country Airlines.

Future renovations

The South Aurora Sculpture in Terminal 1. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Airports Commission)

Delta Air Lines partnered with the airports commission on a $242 million project to renovate six concourses in Terminal 1. This project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

There’s also a $305 million project to expand Concourse G by 157,000 square feet to increase gate-seating capacity, add the airport’s first sensory rooms and provide more restrooms and art display space. This project is expected to be completed by 2028.

Airport satisfaction

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MSP ranks highest in passenger satisfaction among mega airports for a second consecutive year in the J.D. Power 2025 North America Airport Satisfaction Study. Mega airports are airports with 33 million or more passengers a year.

The study was based on 30,439 surveys completed by U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through a North American airport between July 2024 and July 2025, according to J.D. Power.

The study measures overall passenger satisfaction across seven categories: ease of travel; level of trust; food, beverage and retail; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure experience; and arrival experience.

The airport ranked first, among mega airports, in all categories except ease of travel.

Today is Saturday, Sept. 27, the 270th day of 2025. There are 95 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 27, 1996, the Taliban, the extremist Islamic movement in Afghanistan, drove the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of Kabul, the capital, and executed former President Najibullah.

Also on this date:

In 1779, John Adams was named by Congress to negotiate the Revolutionary War’s peace terms with Britain.

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In 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.

In 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, formally allying the World War II Axis powers.

In 1964, the government publicly released the report of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

In 1979, Congress gave its final approval to forming the U.S. Department of Education.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced in a televised address that he was eliminating all U.S. ground-launched battlefield nuclear weapons and called on the Soviet Union to match the gesture.

In 2013, President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by telephone, the first conversation between American and Iranian leaders in more than 30 years.

In 2018, Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was “100 percent” certain that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when they were teenagers, and Kavanaugh then told senators that he was “100 percent certain” he had done no such thing. Kavanaugh was confirmed on Oct. 6 of that year.

In 2021, R&B singer R. Kelly was convicted in a sex trafficking trial in New York after numerous allegations of misconduct with young women and children; a federal appeals court upheld the convictions and his 30-year prison sentence in 2025.

In 2023, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio sets a U.S. record of 371 days in space, returning to Earth from the International Space Station with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin.

Today’s Birthdays:

Musician Randy Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 82.
Actor Liz Torres is 78.
Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt is 76.
Singer and actor Shaun Cassidy is 67.
Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron is 62.
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow is 53.
Actor Indira Varma is 52.
Musician-actor Carrie Brownstein is 51.
Actor Anna Camp is 43.
Rapper Lil Wayne is 43.
Musician Avril Lavigne (AV’-rihl la-VEEN’) is 41.
Actor Jenna Ortega is 23.

Looking at the country charts, it seems Keith Urban’s star has faded.

The first two singles from his 12th and latest album “High” sputtered their way to No. 18 and 12, while the four that have since followed didn’t chart at all. And this is a guy who, during the ’00s and ’10s, saw nearly every one of his singles make it into the Top 5.

Judging by the 57-year-old’s wildly entertaining show at Grand Casino Arena in downtown St. Paul Friday night, only a fool would count this guy out quite yet.

Going all the way back to his 2000 breakthrough “Your Everything,” the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised vocalist has blazed his own path away from his Nashville peers. He’s always had a pleasant, if unremarkable, voice. But he’s also always been a terrific guitarist unafraid to indulge in the sort of meaty, squealing solos rarely heard on country radio.

His singles are custom-made for arenas, with massive, cheery choruses reminiscent of peak ’80s MTV. And he performs most of them live like they’re the final song of the encore. Urban clearly loves entertaining and, Friday night, he radiated with gleeful, infectious energy.

Urban spent the ’10s experimenting with his sound and produced some of his finest work in the process, including “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” a highlight of Friday night’s show as well as every other local concert of his over the past decade.

“High,” meanwhile, was more of a back to basics affair and about half of it felt, well, half-hearted. Friday, Urban cherry picked the best moments from the record, including his high-energy show opener “Straight Line,” the similarly spirited “Chuck Taylors” (complete with the chorus’ lyrics flashing on the screens) and the autobiographical “Heart Like a Hometown,” which he introduced with a monologue about how he turned his lifelong love of music into a career.

The crowd of more than 11,000 ate up every minute of Urban’s two-hour show, singing along to “Somewhere in My Car” and “Somebody Like You,” cheering for every guitar solo and grinning with delight at his cover of Chappell Roan’s massive pop hit “Pink Pony Club.”

Country music isn’t as ageist as pop — as long as you’re a man, anyway — so it’s entirely possible Urban will regain his grip on the Top 10 with his next album. Friday, though, he proved he doesn’t need to keep scoring hits as long as he keeps turning in such memorable and highly enjoyable shows.

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To keep its “Drive for Five” alive, the Minnesota Lynx will need to rebound once again — and then again.

Following Friday’s 84-76 loss in Phoenix, top-seeded Minnesota trails 2-1 in the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series. Game 4 is Sunday in Arizona.

Coach Cheryl Reeve did not see the end of the game in person.

The Lynx boss was assessed her second technical foul of the game with 21.8 seconds left — and had to be restrained by other coaches — after Alyssa Thomas stole a ball from Napheesa Collier and drove in for an uncontested layup to, basically, ice the game.

On the collision between each team’s superstar, Collier badly rolled her left ankle and was lying on the floor and slapping it with her hand as Thomas made her drive.

Reeve’s first technical was being upset with the officials for the physicality being used on Collier in the second quarter.

Natisha Hiedeman scored 19 points off the bench and reserve Maria Kliundikova added eight, including a trio of big shots in the fourth. But it wasn’t enough because the Lynx shot just 3 for 16 in the final frame and were outscored 20-9.

Before the game, Reeve spoke about getting more from Lynx reserves.

“They were big part of our identity,” she said. “Not getting production from them is something that’s on our minds and we need to get them going. We’ve talked about, collectively, how we can help them and make sure our play-calling represents the ability to get them some opportunities. We need them, for sure.”

Collier led the Lynx starters with 17 points, Courtney Williams added 14 and Kayla McBride had 12.

This was the second straight game that Minnesota did not finish strong. Neither Collier nor Hiedeman scored in the final quarter.

The Lynx, who blew a 20-point third-quarter lead in Tuesday’s 89-83 overtime Game 2 loss, had a defensive meltdown early in the fourth as the Mercury scored the first seven points, including four at the rim, for a 70-67 lead.

Phoenix outscored Minnesota 42-28 in the paint.

A 3-pointer by McBride gave Minnesota a 74-72 lead, but Sabou Sabally drained a pair of 3-pointers around a Kliundikova basket to make it 78-76 Phoenix.

Locking down on interior defense, Minnesota outscored Phoenix 23-13 in the third quarter for a 67-63 heading into the final 10 minutes. The largest lead for either team to that point was seven.

Bolstered by a 12-2 run over about a four-minute span, the Mercury led 48-44 at the break. Collier had 13 points and Hiedeman 11 to lead Minnesota through 20 minutes.

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