North Dakota's Airports Are Booming, Thanks to the Explosive Growth in the Bakken Oil Patch

Grand Forks Herald -- "Minot’s airport has moved ahead of Grand Forks International Airport this year as the third largest in the state, according to a new report from the state’s Aeronautics Commission.

The explosive growth in the Oil Patch the past three years is a main cause for the increase at Minot, Williston and Dickinson and it’s causing lots of planning for expansion at those airports. The number of passenger boardings in Minot as of Nov. 30 was 134,789, up 67.2 percent, compared to 104,990 in Grand Forks, up 0.04 percent.

Boardings at all of North Dakota’s commercial airports so far this year are up 8.3 percent to 787,738, bolstered by a record November at seven of the eight largest commercial airports in the state. For the third consecutive year, the state has had more airport boardings than the total population. Last month, seven airports had record months, and every airport is at or near record annual boardings."

MP: Drill, drill, drill = jobs, jobs, jobs in ND, and not just oil jobs, but jobs in the state's booming airline industry as well.