Dane County Regional Airport - Facilities and Aircraft

Facilities and Aircraft

Dane County Regional Airport covers an area of 4,000 acres at an elevation of 887 feet (270 m) above mean sea level. It has three runways with concrete surfaces: 3/21 is 7,200 by 150 feet (2,195 x 46 m); 14/32 is 5,846 by 150 feet (1,782 x 46 m); 18/36 is 9,006 by 150 feet (2,745 x 46 m).

The fixed base operator (FBO) is Wisconsin Aviation, which purchased the assets of the former FBO, Four Lakes Aviation, in 1994.

More recent data shows the following operations annually for the last five years:

2005: 117,522

2006: 115,960

2007: 121,984

2008: 110,589

2009: 96,765

2010: 96,205

In 1927, the City of Madison purchased 290 acres of land for $35,380. Previously a cabbage patch for a nearby sauerkraut factory, the newly acquired land would later become the present day home of the Dane County Regional Airport (MSN Airport, 2012). In January of 1936, the city council voted to accept a WPA grant for construction of four runways and an airplane hangar. Additional grants financed the terminal and administrative building as well as electric floodlights. The development price tag was $1,000,000 – 10% paid by the city and remainder by the federal government (MSN Airport, 2012). In September 1938, Barnstormer Howard Morey of Chicago, Edgar Quinn and J.J. McMannamy organized the Madison Airways Corporation (MSN Airport, 2012). In 1942, operation of the airfield was also transferred to the US Army Air Corps. The airfield was renamed Truax Field, in honor of Madisonian Lt. Thomas L. Truax, who died in a training flight shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Twenty years later in 1962, the city completed a long-range master plan – paving the way for a grant from the Federal Aid to Airports Program – a new terminal and taxiway system was designed. This would be the first expansion for the airport. A modern 31,000 square foot terminal building was built across the airfield on the west side – which was eight-times larger than the original east side terminal. The cost of the new terminal was $2.36 million, it opened on December 15, 1966. By 1968, the US Air Force was completely phased out at Truax field, leaving the Wisconsin Air National Guard to perform alert/interceptor mission exclusively 770 acres of land and many buildings were deeded to the city. In 1974, newer transportation was introduced to the airport, they added jet service through Northwest Orient Airlines and were averaging over 500,000 passengers per year. In 1986, the airport tripled in size with a $12 million project that expanded the terminal from 32,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet, adding a second level concourse with six boarding bridges. In 1991, a $3.8 million expansion added a 50-foot high glass atrium and a commuter gate – expanding the terminal to over 125,000 square feet. A multi-level parking structure was built in 1993, with an additional level added in 1998. In 2001, a groundbreaking ceremony initiated a 5-year, $68 million building project that doubled the size of the terminal to 274,000 square feet.