Madison, WI

What the Data Says About MSN

Madison, WI in Madison, Wisconsin handled 127,239 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 83.1% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 21,470 experienced delays, 1,393 were cancelled, and 141 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.09%, the diversion rate to 0.11%, and the average delay when departures run late is 85.4 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing MSN against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at MSN, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 42.7% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 31.9% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 17.2%. Weather contributes 8.1% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.1%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, October runs the cleanest at MSN with a 94.5% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 90.8% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in October, when average flights hit 1,966. The busiest route from MSN is to ORD (Chicago), with 12,602 flights at a 80.7% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 83.1% on-time, 85.4-minute average delay, 1.09% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Madison, WI.