sorry i did not see anyone comment on this but the MAF does not regulate airflow. the MAF reports the amount of airflow coming into engine. when a MAF is dirty, it "under reports" the amount of air coming into the cylinders (almost always). lesson for the day. sorry but it bugs me when incorrect information floats around the forums.

 

Couldn't agree with you more, well done.
The only thing you forgot to do, was to complete your statement on what the MAF does when it "under reports" or "miss informs" the PCM/ECU.
If the MAF is reading incorrectly (because it's dirty), it sends a signal to the PCM of it's reading which then will cause the PCM to inproperly suggest what the proper fuel input (mass) should be. The MAF does send info to the PCM to balance the Fuel output. I could go on about what happens after this point, but for this thread it would be overkill at this point.
PS: the IAC Valve is what controls air flow to regulate engine idle. I'm not pointing this out to you warrantyvoider, just for anybody else that comes across this thread.

TJKinCNY