Carrier performance at one airport
DL→DTW
Delta Air Lines at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County
- Departures
- 60,378
- Period
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Routes
- 25
- Rank here
- #5 of 12
Delta Air Lines at Detroit lands a B, level with the national rate of 77.3%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That rests on 60,378 flights, of which American Airlines flew 4,850 at 81.9% on time.
Measured against the airport rather than the country, Delta Air Lines runs about a point ahead of the 76.7% weighted average across all carriers at DTW. That is the comparison worth making: every operator here works the same runways, the same airspace and the same weather.
Key figures
On time
77.8%
59,370 completed departures
Avg delay
65 min
Across delayed flights only
Cancelled
1.48%
At DTW, this carrier only
Rank here
#5
Of 12 carriers clearing the floor at DTW
These figures cover 60,000 flights between September 2025 and August 2026. The median arrival is 6 minutes early, which is the part an average hides: most flights here are fine, and the on-time rate is decided by a tail of badly late ones. On-time means under 15 minutes late, the DOT's own threshold.
Against the competition
Every carrier at DTW, ranked
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 81.9% of the time; Frontier Airlines manages 70.6%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 3,308 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 4,850 | 81.9% | 98 min | 1.98% | B |
| Republic Airways | 6,251 | 81.7% | 76 min | 3.54% | B− |
| Envoy Air | 1,070 | 79.7% | 87 min | 3.08% | B− |
| United Airlines | 2,331 | 78.3% | 74 min | 0.73% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines (this page) | 60,378 | 77.8% | 65 min | 1.48% | B |
| Alaska Airlines | 550 | 76.8% | 52 min | 0.36% | B+ |
| JetBlue Airways | 1,299 | 76.1% | 82 min | 5.31% | B− |
| Southwest Airlines | 4,460 | 74.4% | 50 min | 0.81% | C+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 28,477 | 74.1% | 97 min | 2.11% | C |
| Spirit Airlines | 6,187 | 73.9% | 70 min | 3.64% | C− |
| PSA Airlines | 1,979 | 73.4% | 118 min | 6.87% | C− |
| Frontier Airlines | 3,308 | 70.6% | 92 min | 1.78% | C |
PSA Airlines cancels 6.9% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Where Delta Air Lines flies from DTW
Delta Air Lines operates 25 routes out of DTW with enough volume to report. Route records inside one carrier at one airport still spread widely, because a short shuttle and a transcontinental have very different exposure to a late inbound.
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTW to ATL · Atlanta | 3,780 | 81.2% | 68 min | 0.48% | B+ |
| DTW to MCO · Orlando | 2,211 | 75.3% | 73 min | 0.81% | B+ |
| DTW to LGA · New York | 1,981 | 76.4% | 74 min | 4.04% | B− |
| DTW to LAX · Los Angeles | 1,954 | 75.8% | 58 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| DTW to LAS · Las Vegas | 1,880 | 73.8% | 63 min | 0.59% | C+ |
| DTW to MSP · Minneapolis | 1,879 | 79.8% | 62 min | 0.69% | B+ |
| DTW to FLL · Fort Lauderdale | 1,808 | 73.6% | 69 min | 1.66% | C |
| DTW to DCA · Washington | 1,741 | 68.2% | 60 min | 2.81% | C |
| DTW to BOS · Boston | 1,716 | 74.6% | 65 min | 1.98% | C |
| DTW to TPA · Tampa | 1,716 | 81.5% | 63 min | 1.22% | B |
| DTW to EWR · Newark | 1,612 | 75.4% | 78 min | 3.91% | B− |
| DTW to PHL · Philadelphia | 1,582 | 80.1% | 79 min | 2.40% | B |
| DTW to SLC · Salt Lake City | 1,533 | 79.6% | 60 min | 0.13% | B+ |
| DTW to SEA · Seattle | 1,518 | 71.3% | 57 min | 0.79% | C+ |
| DTW to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 1,406 | 77.4% | 57 min | 1.71% | B |
| DTW to BNA · Nashville | 1,405 | 79.9% | 57 min | 1.78% | B |
| DTW to SFO · San Francisco | 1,385 | 65.1% | 61 min | 0.72% | C+ |
| DTW to RSW · Fort Myers | 1,357 | 75.4% | 69 min | 1.18% | B |
| DTW to CLT · Charlotte | 1,341 | 81.9% | 70 min | 1.64% | B |
| DTW to PHX · Phoenix | 1,333 | 74.6% | 64 min | 0.68% | C+ |
| DTW to RDU · Raleigh | 1,333 | 84.6% | 60 min | 1.58% | B |
| DTW to MCI · Kansas City | 1,328 | 80.8% | 68 min | 1.20% | B |
| DTW to IAH · Houston | 1,327 | 78.6% | 56 min | 0.75% | B+ |
| DTW to AUS · Austin | 1,290 | 80.1% | 53 min | 1.40% | B |
| DTW to SAN · San Diego | 1,250 | 73.3% | 60 min | 0.80% | C+ |
Flight by flight
Delta Air Lines flight numbers from DTW
112 Delta Air Lines flight numbers leaving DTW flew their main route often enough to have a record of their own. Grouped by destination.
- DL 965to ATL 07:2086.6%
- DL 1228to ATL 12:2180.3%
- DL 1467to ATL 16:2576.2%
- DL 1611to ATL 06:1787.2%
- DL 1653to ATL 08:2582.4%
- DL 2053to ATL 18:0472.4%
- DL 2188to ATL 12:2567.2%
- DL 2375to ATL 05:2091.2%
- DL 2777to ATL 09:2587.6%
- DL 2856to ATL 10:3586.5%
- DL 1012to AUS 12:5380.8%
- DL 1218to AUS 08:3083.5%
- DL 1612to AUS 16:1580.1%
- DL 2578to AUS 20:0074.7%
- DL 2163to BDL 10:3088.0%
- DL 2814to BDL 14:3086.2%
- DL 2989to BDL 21:3077.4%
- DL 1557to BNA 12:3088.5%
- DL 2126to BNA 21:3574.2%
- DL 2316to BNA 16:1469.4%
- DL 2682to BNA 08:4588.0%
- DL 1163to BOS 07:0091.0%
- DL 1171to BOS 14:0068.2%
- DL 1187to BOS 21:5070.3%
- DL 1707to BOS 17:5955.5%
- DL 2648to BOS 10:0582.7%
- DL 1546to BWI 10:1085.9%
- DL 2715to BWI 21:3077.9%
- DL 1429to CLT 14:1583.6%
- DL 2352to CLT 19:4574.8%
- DL 2481to CLT 07:0585.6%
- DL 2030to DCA 17:3054.6%
- DL 2073to DCA 21:2867.2%
- DL 2476to DCA 10:0086.9%
- DL 1113to DEN 08:3085.7%
- DL 1648to DEN 12:5083.7%
- DL 2431to DEN 16:1870.4%
- DL 1041to DFW 12:2084.4%
- DL 1207to DFW 21:1573.0%
- DL 1543to DFW 15:5073.7%
- DL 2746to DFW 08:5080.6%
- DL 2573to EWR 14:1572.2%
- DL 2577to EWR 10:2081.4%
- DL 2609to EWR 21:3070.6%
- DL 1378to FLL 10:0577.3%
- DL 2296to FLL 20:4059.7%
- DL 307to HNL 10:3075.5%
- DL 1633to IAH 20:1577.5%
- DL 2333to JAX 08:2588.4%
- DL 2934to JFK 16:1876.0%
- DL 334to LAS 08:5979.4%
- DL 421to LAS 12:3272.4%
- DL 544to LAS 18:3068.7%
- DL 766to LAS 16:3570.8%
- DL 916to LAS 20:1570.0%
- DL 634to LAX 12:3081.3%
- DL 694to LAX 20:3064.2%
- DL 852to LAX 18:2079.4%
- DL 883to LAX 15:5076.5%
- DL 1487to LGA 07:0087.9%
- DL 2589to LGA 10:0085.3%
- DL 2602to LGA 14:0274.9%
- DL 2603to LGA 21:5072.4%
- DL 2604to LGA 17:5958.7%
- DL 337to MCO 14:0074.8%
- DL 1133to MCO 16:5664.2%
- DL 1455to MCO 08:4586.4%
- DL 1747to MCO 10:3572.2%
- DL 2555to MCO 07:0591.3%
- DL 866to MIA 13:5974.0%
- DL 1468to MIA 08:3085.4%
- DL 1303to MSP 19:4570.9%
- DL 1746to MSP 07:0084.5%
- DL 2203to MSP 16:2575.5%
- DL 2258to MSP 09:0085.3%
- DL 2697to MSP 12:2084.7%
- DL 2790to MSY 08:4587.4%
- DL 1145to MYR 08:4084.6%
- DL 1665to ORD 20:0063.9%
- DL 2535to PBI 08:4081.2%
- DL 2402to PHL 21:3080.5%
- DL 813to PHX 12:4877.9%
- DL 1070to PHX 08:3578.4%
- DL 2076to PHX 20:1873.7%
- DL 1407to RDU 15:5582.8%
- DL 2164to RDU 10:1589.2%
- DL 2839to RDU 21:4075.8%
- DL 1225to RSW 14:0277.6%
- DL 369to SAN 16:3571.8%
- DL 492to SAN 08:4082.8%
- DL 700to SAN 20:5561.1%
- DL 788to SAT 08:2587.7%
- DL 1365to SAT 20:3070.7%
- DL 565to SEA 20:3461.6%
- DL 728to SEA 12:2076.7%
- DL 734to SEA 08:3073.9%
- DL 944to SEA 16:4667.3%
- DL 361to SFO 08:3073.8%
- DL 442to SFO 15:5067.1%
- DL 469to SFO 12:1567.8%
- DL 1913to SJU 08:3576.0%
- DL 698to SLC 08:0087.9%
- DL 765to SLC 17:4076.7%
- DL 935to SLC 12:1587.4%
- DL 2117to SLC 20:1564.6%
- DL 1541to STL 19:5975.5%
- DL 2822to STL 15:5078.7%
- DL 1689to SYR 21:4578.2%
- DL 1243to TPA 15:5581.0%
- DL 1355to TPA 19:5976.9%
- DL 2852to TPA 07:0088.0%
- DL 2424to TVC 22:5077.0%
Departure window
Best time of day for this operation
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am5,724 flights87.8%
- 8am–11am16,466 flights83.7%
- 11am–2pm7,009 flights79.4%
- 2pm–5pm12,680 flights74.9%
- 5pm–8pm5,723 flights68.8%
- 8pm–5am12,776 flights71.6%
Scale runs 60% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 87.8% of the time, against 68.8% for the evening window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 16,466 flights scheduled in it.
Across the year
Seasonal pattern
December is the weak month at 63.2% on time, against 87.1% in September. Winter delays cluster: a single storm system can account for most of a month's shortfall, so an average December hides both very good weeks and genuinely unflyable days. July was the busiest month here, with 5,435 flights.
Delay causes
What holds this operation up
- 48%Carrier
- 29%National Airspace System
- 19%Late-arriving aircraft
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 48%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. It accounts for 415,000 of the 859,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 859,353 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.48% against a national 1.89%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.19%.
7.6% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 8.3%, so a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
60,378 flights sit behind these numbers, which is a large enough sample that the headline rate is not moving on noise. Where a sub-group falls below 30 flights the site shows a dash instead of a percentage.
Put together: the calendar is the biggest lever here, not the carrier or the hour. September runs 87.1% on time and December 63.2%, a swing of 24 points. If the dates move at all, move them out of December before you think about anything else. 59,370 completed flights over 12 months sit behind that.
Common questions
Delta Air Lines at DTW
How often is Delta Air Lines at DTW delayed?
Roughly one flight in five arrives at least 15 minutes late, which is the Department of Transportation's definition of a delayed arrival. That works out to 22.2% of the 60,378 flights in this analysis, against 22.7% nationally. Delayed flights are late by about an hour on average.
Which airline is most reliable on Delta Air Lines at DTW?
American Airlines leads at 81.9% on time across 4,850 flights. Frontier Airlines is at the other end on 70.6%, a gap of 11 points. Sample size matters as much as the percentage: a rate built from a few hundred flights moves around far more than one built from ten thousand.
What time of day has the fewest delays on Delta Air Lines at DTW?
The 5am–8am departure window is the strongest at 87.8% on time. The 5pm–8pm window is the weakest at 68.8%, 19 points behind. Later departures inherit delays from earlier flights the same aircraft has already flown, which is why the curve slopes the way it does.
How bad are December delays on Delta Air Lines at DTW?
December is the weakest month at 63.2% on time, compared with 87.1% in September. Across the year that is 24 points between the best and worst months. Moving flexible dates out of that month is one of the few things that reliably helps.
Related
Where to go next
- Delta Air Lines network-wide record
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW) all carriers
- DTW to ATL route record81.2%
- DTW to MCO route record75.3%
- DTW to LGA route record76.4%
- DTW to LAX route record75.8%
- Do airlines run better at their own hubs?
- The best time of day to fly, according to 7.05 million flight records
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.