Best time to fly out of Dane Truax (MSN)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Dane Truax: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 92.8% of the time, against 73.6% in the 6–8pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 92 | 94 | 92 | 94 | 93 | 92 | 93 |
| 6–8am | 89 | 91 | 90 | 92 | 89 | 89 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 89 | 87 | 89 | 89 | 86 | 87 | 88 |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 83 | 83 | 84 | 78 | 83 | 80 |
| 12–2pm | 78 | 83 | 83 | 81 | 77 | 83 | 77 |
| 2–4pm | 79 | 85 | 81 | 82 | 80 | 83 | 79 |
| 4–6pm | 77 | 78 | 74 | 72 | 76 | 77 | 75 |
| 6–8pm | 69 | 78 | 75 | 71 | 75 | 75 | 73 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at MSN was Before 6am — 92.8% of departures left on time across 1,949 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 73.6%. 6–8am departures from MSN left on time 89.9% of the time across 9,250 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.6% across 2,302. That is a gap of 16.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at MSN
January was the hard month at MSN: 79% of departures left on time, across 2,819 flights. October was the easy one at 88.5%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2,819 |
| February | 83.7% | 2,654 |
| March | 83.3% | 3,147 |
| April | 84.3% | 3,311 |
| May | 81.5% | 3,348 |
| June | 80.5% | 3,389 |
| July | 79.1% | 2,939 |
| August | 83% | 3,266 |
| September | 86.7% | 3,126 |
| October | 88.5% | 3,357 |
| November | 86.8% | 2,993 |
| December | 79% | 2,812 |
Airlines at MSN
Every airline with at least 100 departures from MSN, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 79.7% | 102 min | 1.6% | 7,340 |
| American Airlines | 77.9% | 116 min | 1.4% | 6,364 |
| Delta Air Lines | 89.8% | 107 min | 1% | 5,571 |
| Republic Airways | 86.9% | 87 min | 2.7% | 5,000 |
| United Airlines | 85.5% | 87 min | 1.5% | 4,805 |
| PSA Airlines | 80.9% | 103 min | 2.8% | 3,985 |
| Envoy Air | 82.6% | 78 min | 2.7% | 2,259 |
| Endeavor Air | 87.6% | 77 min | 1.5% | 1,163 |
| Frontier Airlines | 72.8% | 88 min | 1.8% | 674 |
What delays out of MSN were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 6,999 flights that departed MSN and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 40.5% put down to airline operations and 34.4% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 34.4%
- Airline operations 40.5%
- Air traffic & airport volume 17.5%
- Severe weather 7.5%
- Security 0.1%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through MSN
Of 37,168 scheduled arrivals into MSN, 74.8% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 8,614 arrivals that ran late, 49.3% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of MSN
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- ORD 75.1% on time · 8,589 flights
- MSP 84.1% on time · 3,866 flights
- DTW 86.4% on time · 3,525 flights
- DEN 80.5% on time · 3,282 flights
- DFW 74.3% on time · 3,251 flights
- DCA 77.7% on time · 3,082 flights
- ATL 89.9% on time · 3,067 flights
- CLT 80% on time · 2,947 flights
- LGA 87.7% on time · 1,989 flights
- PHX 80.6% on time · 1,421 flights
MSN in one number
Dane Truax (MSN)
Rank 92 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: January.
Questions about MSN
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Dane Truax?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 92.8% of the time across 1,949 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 73.6%.
- Is the early flight out of MSN really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from MSN left on time 89.9% of the time across 9,250 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.6% across 2,302. That is a gap of 16.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of MSN?
- January: 79% of the departures that flew left on time, with 2,819 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 88.5%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at MSN?
- Delta Air Lines — 89.8% of its 5,571 departures from MSN left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 72.8% over 674 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at MSN?
- 1.8% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.