75% of flights leaving Detroit (DTW) arrived on time over the past 12 months, right at the national average of 76%. That ranks 58 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 389 flights leave DTW on a typical day; 1.9% were cancelled. 77% pushed back from the gate on time, so most of the lateness is already there when the flight leaves the gate.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 5 a.m. (86% on time). Worst: 5 p.m. (64%).
- Best month: October (87%). Worst: January (67%).
- Most reliable airline here: United Airlines (77%), vs Frontier Airlines at 69%.
- Biggest delay cause: the airlines themselves (50% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (79% → 75%).
How late?
The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for flights leaving DTW: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 50% of the time. About 1 in 11 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 54 three hours or more; 1.9% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early75%
- 15–30 min late7.5%
- 30–60 min late6.6%
- 1–2 hours late5.2%
- 2–3 hours late2.0%
- 3+ hours late1.9%
- Diverted0.2%
- Cancelled1.9%
Share of all 142,118 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of DTW
Time of day matters more at DTW than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 86% of the time; at 5 p.m. it was 64%, a 22-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 82% on time against 68% for the evening bank (5–10 p.m.). Early planes usually start the day at the airport, so they haven't had a chance to pick up delays elsewhere. By evening a late inbound aircraft, a crew running out of duty hours or an afternoon thunderstorm can push one late flight into the next. Cancellations cluster too: 6 a.m. departures were cancelled 3.5% of the time, against 1.9% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at DTW was a 5 a.m. departure in September (95% on time); the least, 5 p.m. in July (53%). If you can only move one thing, move the hour. Departure hour usually shifts the odds more than the month does.
Each cell: on-time rate for that departure hour in that calendar month, 2023–2026. Find your travel month, then look along the row for the greenest hour.
Best and worst months
January is the hardest month at DTW, with 67% of flights on time across 2023–2026; October is the best at 87%. Summer (June–August) runs 11 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 12 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (2.9% of flights).
Airlines at DTW
Delta Air Lines runs 77% of departures from DTW, so DTW is effectively its hub. When Delta Air Lines has a bad day, so does the airport. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, United Airlines was the most reliable (77% on time) and Frontier Airlines the least (69%), a 8-point difference. On a route where both fly, that difference is worth more than a small fare gap.
| Airline | Departures | On time | Left on time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 108,918 | 75% | 77% | 1.6% | −6 min |
| American Airlines | 10,106 | 75% | 78% | 3.6% | −11 min |
| United Airlines | 7,290 | 77% | 81% | 2.6% | −7 min |
| Spirit Airlines | 6,187 | 71% | 72% | 3.6% | −6 min |
| Southwest Airlines | 4,460 | 73% | 70% | 0.8% | −1 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 3,308 | 69% | 70% | 1.8% | −4 min |
| JetBlue | 1,299 | 72% | 75% | 5.3% | −8 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 550 | 76% | 75% | 0.4% | −3 min |
Why flights are late at DTW
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At DTW, 50% of delay minutes came from the airlines themselves: crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling and baggage. Next is late-arriving aircraft at 22%. Of the 2,657 cancellations, 50% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 20 minutes, longer than at most large U.S. airports. Airlines pad schedules for it, but a long queue on a busy afternoon still eats into the buffer.
DTW vs nearby airports
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTW Detroit Metro | — | 142,118 | 75% | 1.9% |
| FNT Bishop | 56 mi | 3,468 | 70% | 2.3% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 75% of DTW departures were on time, against 79% in the 12 months before, a decline of 4 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (87%); the worst, December 2025 (59%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Jan 25, 2026, when 38% of 374 scheduled departures were cancelled. Days like that are usually a major storm, a system outage or a holiday peak hitting bad weather. No average predicts them, so on a stormy forecast, check your airline's travel waivers.
| Date | Departures | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25, 2026 | 374 | 38% | 4% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 415 | 22% | 24% |
| Nov 9, 2025 | 415 | 15% | 11% |
| Feb 23, 2026 | 389 | 14% | 69% |
| Dec 26, 2025 | 371 | 14% | 53% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 370 | 14% | 27% |
| Jun 14, 2026 | 409 | 13% | 39% |
| Dec 29, 2025 | 370 | 11% | 12% |
| Mar 15, 2026 | 413 | 11% | 58% |
| Dec 5, 2025 | 407 | 11% | 30% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from DTW, each airline's final departure was cancelled 2.2% of the time, against 1.7% for its earlier flights (1.3× as often). Late in the day crews run short on duty hours, aircraft arrive late from elsewhere, and with no later flight to fold passengers into, cancelling is easier for the airline. 2.2% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was Delta Air Lines to Pellston (13.3% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLN Pellston | Delta Air Lines | 3:55 p.m. | 13.3% | 1.7% | 68% |
| EWR Newark | Spirit Airlines | — | 12.4% | 1.6% | 44% |
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 5:11 p.m. | 8.6% | 4.7% | 49% |
| LGA New York | American Airlines | 5:22 p.m. | 8.6% | 3.9% | 61% |
| PHL Philadelphia | American Airlines | 7:12 p.m. | 8.0% | 4.1% | 66% |
| LGA New York | Spirit Airlines | — | 10.8% | 1.2% | 56% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 7:22 p.m. | 4.7% | 5.5% | 49% |
| EWR Newark | United Airlines | 7:02 p.m. | 9.3% | 0.0% | 68% |
| AZO Kalamazoo | Delta Air Lines | 10:55 p.m. | 3.6% | 5.5% | 72% |
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 9:03 p.m. | 6.3% | 2.5% | 59% |
| BOS Boston | JetBlue | 6:44 p.m. | 4.8% | 3.9% | 55% |
| ORD Chicago | Delta Air Lines | 8:00 p.m. | 3.8% | 4.7% | 59% |
Each airline's last scheduled departure of the day on a route, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Riskiest first.
DTW at the holidays
On the busy Thanksgiving travel days, flights from DTW arrived on time 65% of the time, against 86% normally (−20.8 points; 29th of the 30 busiest airports). On the busy Christmas–New Year travel days, flights from DTW arrived on time 71% of the time, against 70% normally (+0.7 points; 22th of the 30 busiest airports).
Thanksgiving: best days to fly → · Christmas: best days to fly →
Tips for flying out of DTW
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At DTW the 5 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in January? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? United Airlines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of DTW; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Connecting here? See how long a layover you need at DTW.
- Delayed already? Most delays at DTW come from the airlines themselves. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Delayed at DTW right now? See how much later DTW delays usually get, and what to do →
Routes from DTW
Where you're going matters too. From DTW, the most reliable busy route was to Hartford (BDL, 83% on time) and the least reliable to Washington (DCA, 65%). Flights into congested airports inherit their delays: an air traffic program at the destination holds planes on the ground here.
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA Washington | 2,972 | 65% | 4.2% | −2 min |
| SFO San Francisco | 1,792 | 66% | 0.7% | +3 min |
| PLN Pellston | 659 | 66% | 14.0% | −10 min |
| BTV Burlington | 803 | 67% | 1.9% | −3 min |
| IMT Iron Mountain | 365 | 68% | 2.7% | −6 min |
| PDX Portland | 377 | 70% | 1.1% | +2 min |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 2,692 | 70% | 2.3% | −2 min |
| HSV Huntsville | 567 | 70% | 1.1% | −4 min |
| ORD Chicago | 6,152 | 70% | 3.1% | −3 min |
| MDW Chicago | 2,110 | 70% | 1.3% | 0 min |
| GSO Greensboro | 796 | 70% | 2.1% | −7 min |
| SBN South Bend | 713 | 70% | 1.0% | −8 min |
| LGA New York | 3,866 | 70% | 5.4% | −6 min |
| DSM Des Moines | 1,015 | 71% | 1.9% | −7 min |
| BOS Boston | 2,572 | 72% | 2.7% | −6 min |
| FWA Fort Wayne | 704 | 72% | 0.7% | −4 min |
| GSP Greer | 890 | 72% | 2.3% | −6 min |
| SEA Seattle | 2,067 | 72% | 0.7% | −1 min |
| HPN White Plains | 689 | 72% | 2.3% | −8 min |
| TYS Knoxville | 942 | 72% | 1.1% | −6 min |
| SAN San Diego | 1,269 | 72% | 0.9% | 0 min |
| RSW Fort Myers | 1,774 | 73% | 2.0% | −3 min |
| TVC Traverse City | 1,184 | 73% | 2.0% | −5 min |
| AZO Kalamazoo | 1,096 | 73% | 2.4% | −9 min |
| ORF Norfolk | 982 | 73% | 1.2% | −6 min |
| MDT Harrisburg | 887 | 73% | 1.4% | −8 min |
| EWR Newark | 3,700 | 73% | 5.5% | −8 min |
| GRR Grand Rapids | 2,315 | 73% | 1.0% | −6 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 2,768 | 73% | 0.6% | −2 min |
| GRB Green Bay | 1,089 | 73% | 1.7% | −9 min |
| LAN Lansing | 1,040 | 73% | 1.0% | −8 min |
| MSN Madison | 1,345 | 73% | 1.0% | −6 min |
| DFW Dallas | 3,482 | 74% | 2.2% | −8 min |
| CLE Cleveland | 1,869 | 74% | 0.6% | −7 min |
| MEM Memphis | 1,100 | 74% | 1.8% | −6 min |
| MCO Orlando | 3,600 | 74% | 1.0% | −4 min |
| ATW Appleton | 1,150 | 74% | 1.3% | −12 min |
| OMA Omaha | 1,180 | 74% | 0.7% | −6 min |
| PVD Providence | 945 | 75% | 2.5% | −8 min |
| ESC Escanaba | 365 | 75% | 7.4% | −16 min |
| CHA Chattanooga | 613 | 75% | 0.8% | −8 min |
| IND Indianapolis | 2,315 | 75% | 1.3% | −7 min |
| SYR Syracuse | 1,317 | 75% | 1.1% | −8 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 2,374 | 75% | 0.8% | −4 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,361 | 75% | 1.1% | −4 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 3,072 | 75% | 3.7% | −11 min |
| ROC Rochester | 1,318 | 75% | 1.8% | −7 min |
| STL St. Louis | 1,915 | 75% | 1.1% | −8 min |
| CHS Charleston | 855 | 76% | 1.8% | −5 min |
| SDF Louisville | 1,306 | 76% | 1.3% | −8 min |
| MKE Milwaukee | 1,631 | 76% | 1.2% | −7 min |
| JFK New York | 1,887 | 76% | 4.1% | −9 min |
| MBS Saginaw | 1,291 | 76% | 1.2% | −9 min |
| CVG Cincinnati | 1,945 | 76% | 0.7% | −8 min |
| PIT Pittsburgh | 1,583 | 76% | 1.1% | −7 min |
| ELM Elmira | 936 | 76% | 1.4% | −8 min |
| BHM Birmingham | 800 | 76% | 1.1% | −6 min |
| SAV Savannah | 620 | 76% | 1.3% | −7 min |
| LEX Lexington | 1,070 | 77% | 1.4% | −8 min |
| BNA Nashville | 2,430 | 77% | 1.3% | −4 min |
| TPA Tampa | 2,290 | 77% | 1.9% | −5 min |
| APN Alpena | 632 | 77% | 4.4% | −11 min |
| ALB Albany | 1,286 | 77% | 1.2% | −10 min |
| IAD Washington | 2,198 | 77% | 1.2% | −6 min |
| BUF Buffalo | 1,538 | 78% | 1.6% | −8 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 4,832 | 78% | 0.8% | −6 min |
| DEN Denver | 3,110 | 79% | 0.5% | −5 min |
| IAH Houston | 2,765 | 79% | 0.8% | −9 min |
| AUS Austin | 1,307 | 79% | 1.4% | −6 min |
| MSP Minneapolis | 1,881 | 79% | 0.7% | −6 min |
| PBI West Palm Beach | 444 | 79% | 1.4% | −5 min |
| BWI Baltimore | 2,230 | 79% | 1.4% | −7 min |
| MIA Miami | 1,757 | 79% | 1.4% | −7 min |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,535 | 79% | 0.1% | −3 min |
| SAT San Antonio | 934 | 80% | 0.8% | −10 min |
| MCI Kansas City | 1,350 | 80% | 1.2% | −9 min |
| CMH Columbus | 1,889 | 80% | 0.9% | −9 min |
| RIC Richmond | 1,027 | 81% | 0.8% | −9 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 3,514 | 82% | 1.8% | −13 min |
| PWM Portland | 662 | 82% | 1.2% | −10 min |
| JAX Jacksonville | 638 | 82% | 2.5% | −10 min |
| RDU Raleigh | 1,497 | 83% | 1.7% | −10 min |
| BDL Hartford | 1,242 | 83% | 2.2% | −12 min |
| MSY New Orleans | 786 | 85% | 1.7% | −8 min |
Flights into DTW
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Detroit Metro, least reliable first. The weakest is from Chicago (69% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORD Chicago | 6,151 | 69% | 3.2% |
| BTV Burlington | 803 | 70% | 2.0% |
| PLN Pellston | 659 | 71% | 14.0% |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 2,705 | 71% | 2.1% |
| MCO Orlando | 3,594 | 72% | 1.1% |
| DCA Washington | 2,973 | 72% | 4.0% |
| MIA Miami | 1,755 | 72% | 1.5% |
| HPN White Plains | 689 | 72% | 3.0% |
| RSW Fort Myers | 1,773 | 73% | 2.0% |
| IMT Iron Mountain | 365 | 73% | 4.1% |
| LGA New York | 3,865 | 73% | 5.2% |
| JFK New York | 1,885 | 73% | 4.2% |
| ROC Rochester | 1,318 | 73% | 2.2% |
| MDW Chicago | 2,109 | 73% | 1.6% |
| BOS Boston | 2,575 | 74% | 2.8% |
| PVD Providence | 945 | 74% | 2.6% |
| LAN Lansing | 1,040 | 74% | 1.0% |
| PBI West Palm Beach | 444 | 74% | 1.4% |
| DFW Dallas | 3,482 | 75% | 1.9% |
| AZO Kalamazoo | 1,096 | 75% | 2.5% |
| TVC Traverse City | 1,184 | 75% | 2.1% |
| GSO Greensboro | 795 | 75% | 2.1% |
| EWR Newark | 3,699 | 75% | 5.6% |
| ATL Atlanta | 4,821 | 76% | 0.8% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 3,072 | 76% | 3.8% |
Showing the 25 least reliable of 84 routes into DTW.
Questions about DTW delays
What is the best time to fly out of DTW?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 86% of DTW departures at that hour arrived on time, against 64% at 5 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at DTW?
January (67% on time). October is the best month (87%).
Which airline is most on time at DTW?
United Airlines: 77% of its DTW departures arrived on time over the past year. Frontier Airlines had the weakest record at 69%.
Why are flights delayed at DTW?
The biggest cause was the airlines themselves (50% of delay minutes): crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling and baggage. Then late-arriving aircraft (22%).
How often are flights cancelled at DTW?
1.9% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 2.9%.
Hours are scheduled local departure times. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes late at the destination; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Method.