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Airport · MCW · Mason City, Iowa

Mason City, IA

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Mason City, IA (MCW) ranks #319 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Mason City, IA posts above-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a smaller regional airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

83.4%
On-time
Top 50%
on-time, US airports
119 min
Delay when late
2.20%
Cancelled
#319 of 382
Corpus placement
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MCW on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%83.4%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Late Aircraft. Total delay minutes: 65,771.

Late Aircraft 45.4% (29,885 min)
Carrier 36.2% (23,799 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 10.3% (6,759 min)
Weather 8.1% (5,312 min)
Security 0.0% (16 min)

MCW - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: April (95.7%) · worst: August (87.4%)

86%88%90%92%94%96%98% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 91.3%

MCW - on-time rate by year

2021–2025, year-over-year trend.

90%92%94%96% 20212022202320242025 94% 90.7% ▼ -3.5%

MCW - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 14.6 min · taxi-in 5.3 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

10 min15 min20 min Jan 24Dec 25 16.9 min 17.2 min ▲ +1.8%

MCW's average taxi-out (14.6 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 11.2 min (October 2024) to 18.9 min (November 2025).

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Mason City, IA.

Cancellation Rate

2.20%

129 of 5,851 flights

Diversion Rate

0.07%

4 of 5,851 flights

Delay Rate

16.6%

973 of 5,851 flights

Top Routes from MCW

Busiest routes to and from Mason City, IA.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
ORD (Chicago) → MCW (Mason City) 1,995 83.3% 288 mi
MCW (Mason City) → ORD (Chicago) 1,779 81.7% 288 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Mason City, IA, both outside Iowa so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 83.4%).

Burlington, VT

Burlington, VT

83.4% on-time 79,685 flights

Bismarck/Mandan, ND

Bismarck/Mandan, ND

83.4% on-time 45,937 flights

Moline, IL

Moline, IL

83.4% on-time 45,407 flights

Durango, CO

Durango, CO

83.4% on-time 42,722 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 5,851).

Kotzebue, AK

Kotzebue, AK

5,950 flights 88.7% on-time

Nome, AK

Nome, AK

5,955 flights 85.8% on-time

Kearney, NE

Kearney, NE

5,971 flights 85.8% on-time

Deadhorse, AK

Deadhorse, AK

5,986 flights 89.1% on-time

Other Airports in Iowa

Compare performance with other Iowa airports.

DSM 82.6%

Des Moines, IA

Des Moines · 169,476 flights
CID 82.2%

Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, IA

Cedar Rapids/Iowa City · 91,140 flights
SUX 81.8%

Sioux City, IA

Sioux City · 9,052 flights
FOD 83.4%

Fort Dodge, IA

Fort Dodge · 5,848 flights
ALO 87.7%

Waterloo, IA

Waterloo · 4,350 flights
DBQ 89.5%

Dubuque, IA

Dubuque · 3,012 flights

MCW delay-share reading

The standout signal at Mason City, IA is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 45.4% of 65,771 delay minutes across 5,851 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 83.4% (4.4 pts above the 79% national average), with 973 delayed and 129 cancelled (2.20%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (45.4% late-aircraft, 36.2% carrier, 10.3% NAS, 8.1% weather, 0.0% security). As a quieter airport, a single late inbound can swing the month more than at a mega-hub.

On the multi-year calendar, MCW is strongest in April (95.7% on-time) and weakest in August (87.4%), a 8.3-point swing. Volume peaks in May (~108 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ORD (Chicago) at 83.3% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Iowa: Iowa flight data.

Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2021–2025). Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using MCW's data

MCW's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from MCW before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in April rather than August if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 14.6 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times

On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.