The Metropolitan Airports Commission Names Mark Bents as Director of Real Estate and Airline Affairs

The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) has selected Mark Bents as its new director of real estate and airline affairs within the organization’s newly renamed Revenue and Business Development division.

Mark Bents
Credit: Metropolitan Airports Commission

Promoted from assistant director of commercial management and airline affairs, Bents’ new director role will focus on leading all real estate, airline and rental car agreements across the MAC’s system of airports, which includes Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and six general aviation airports in the Twin Cities.  

“Mark has been leading a resourceful team responsible for a significant amount of annual revenue for the MAC,” said Samantha Porter, MAC vice president of finance and revenue development. “He has led several commercial growth opportunities for the MAC through his established industry relationships and strategic revenue initiatives.”

In his nearly 10 years at the MAC, Bents has been involved in contract negotiations and revenue development initiatives with most of the MAC’s airline, tenant and aviation partners.

“I am thrilled to have been promoted to the director role,” Bents said. “I look forward to the new challenges that lie ahead that will have a great impact in optimizing the MAC’s financial performance and helping our airports operate in a friendly, efficient and secure manner.”

Bents earned his CPA certification in 2008 and was a tax manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP before joining the MAC in 2014. Prior to that, Bents got his aviation experience as an airport operations specialist at South Bend Regional Airport in South Bend, Indiana, and as an airport operations coordinator at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Bents holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA with a finance emphasis from the University of North Dakota. He is an Accredited Airport Executive (A.A.E.) through the American Association of Airport Executives.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.