Dane County Regional Airport


 * For the Air National Guard use of this facility, see Truax Field Air National Guard Base

Dane County Regional Airport, formerly known as Truax Field, is a joint civil-military commercial airport located five nautical miles (9 km) northeast of the central business district of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. It has three runways and in 2011 it served over 1.5 million passengers. MSN serves American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, and United Airlines, with Delta Air Lines being the carrier with the most flights. These airlines offer non-stop service to thirteen major hubs throughout the country - with over 94 departures and arrivals daily, and additional destinations such as Washington DC, New York City, and Orlando. Delta's Airbus 319s, 320s, and MD-90s, along with Frontier's Airbus 319s, are among the largest aircraft that can be seen at the Dane County Regional Airport.

Truax Field was named in honor of Lieutenant Thomas L. Truax, USAAF, a Wisconsin native who was killed (along with his wingman, Lieutenant Speckman) in a P-40 training accident during poor weather in San Anselmo, CA on November 2, 1941, just before the United States' entry into World War II.

The airport is home to both the Wisconsin Army National Guard and the 115th Fighter Wing of the Wisconsin Air National Guard, which operates F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The 115th Fighter Wing is one of 14 operational air defense units responsible for air defense of the eastern continental United States.

History
Originally known as Madison Army Airfield, Truax Field was activated as an U.S. Army Air Forces airfield in June 1942 during World War II. During the war it was used by the Army Air Force Eastern Technical Training Center, a major school operating at Truax AAF for training radio operators and mechanics, and later expanded to training in radar operations, control tower operations and other communications fields for the Army Airways Communication Service. A special unit established in 1943 trained radio operators and mechanics on B-29 Superfortress communications equipment. The host unit on the airfield was the 334th (later 3508th) Army Air Force Base Unit. On September 17, 1945, the airfield's mission was changed to that of a separation center, and it was closed as an active AAF airfield on November 30, 1945.

Conveyed to local civilian authorities, the Madison Municipal Airport also became the home of the Wisconsin Air National Guard and its present day 115th Fighter Wing (115 FW), an Air National Guard fighter wing operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC) and which still operates from the base, flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

A 31,000 square foot terminal building was built on the west side of the airfield. The cost of the new terminal was $2.36 million, and it opened on December 15, 1966. 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 2006 the airport completed a $65 million expansion that doubled the size of the terminal, built in a Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced prairie style designed by the Architectural Alliance based in Minneapolis. New features include more restaurant and retail area post-security, an art court, and both business and family lounges. As has been the case in the past decade the airport has once again been adding additional parking since 2007. The new terminal holds 13 gates with jetways, WiFi, 6 restaurants, family and business gathering rooms, and an art gallery.

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 six years:

2005: 115,818

2006: 115,613

2007: 119,760

2008: 111,134

2009: 96,700

2010: 96,205

2011: 83,263

2012: 82,777

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 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.