Living in Mason City and have family in Chicago. Drive time is 5 1/2 hours. Air travel time with arrival, check-in, flight, departure and transport into Chicago is only 60 minutes less than driving. Very handy to fly, but I still end up driving most of the time just to not rent a car.Agreed. This as an awesome option for those traveling from north central Iowa. I don’t think the OP was suggesting it was a great option for those in central or eastern Iowa.