Airport month record
DTWFEB
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County in February 2026
- Departures
- 9,122
- Month
- February 2026
- National, same month
- 80.2%
- Carriers
- 11
Historical statistics for February 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s February. For today’s conditions at DTW, see live FAA status.
DTW in February sits in the middle of the pack with a B. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 5 points worse than the national rate of 80.2%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 9,122 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 4,291 at 81.1% on time.
Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 81.1% on time across 4,291 flights.
Key figures
On time
75.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,906 completed departures
Avg delay
77 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.13%
Nationally in February: 2.25%
Whole year
76.9%
DTW across all twelve months
These figures cover 9,122 departures from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County in February 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
February next to DTW's other months
Against DTW's own year, February ran about a point worse than the twelve-month rate of 76.9%, which makes it number eight of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, January ran 64.8% on time and March 71.6%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 11,248 | 73.0% | 80 min | 1.97% | C |
| August 2025 | 10,916 | 81.3% | 68 min | 0.58% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 10,014 | 87.1% | 67 min | 0.19% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 10,950 | 85.3% | 66 min | 0.27% | A+ |
| November 2025 | 9,887 | 78.4% | 78 min | 2.59% | B |
| December 2025 | 9,934 | 62.0% | 87 min | 2.52% | D |
| January 2026 | 9,518 | 64.8% | 83 min | 3.92% | D− |
| February 2026 (this page) | 9,122 | 75.7% | 77 min | 2.13% | B |
| March 2026 | 10,701 | 71.6% | 87 min | 4.02% | C− |
| April 2026 | 10,417 | 81.1% | 65 min | 1.27% | B |
| May 2026 | 10,112 | 80.9% | 68 min | 1.27% | B |
| June 2026 | 9,869 | 79.1% | 73 min | 1.43% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave DTW in February
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 16 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,151 flights85.3%
- 8am–11am2,198 flights79.1%
- 11am–2pm1,102 flights77.1%
- 2pm–5pm1,838 flights73.9%
- 5pm–8pm1,163 flights66.2%
- 8pm–5am1,670 flights72.4%
Scale runs 60% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 85.3% of the time, against 66.2% 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 2,198 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 85.1% on time and Sunday the weakest at 66.2%. 19 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at DTW in February
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 81.1% of the time; SkyWest Airlines manages 65.0%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,244 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 4,291 | 81.1% | 54 min | 1.28% | B |
| SkyWest Airlines | 2,244 | 65.0% | 103 min | 1.74% | C |
| Spirit Airlines | 713 | 70.6% | 67 min | 7.57% | C− |
| Republic Airways | 471 | 79.6% | 57 min | 4.88% | B− |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 341 | 83.1% | 94 min | 2.05% | B |
| Southwest Airlinesthin sample | 326 | 80.0% | 40 min | 0.61% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 239 | 71.0% | 108 min | 0.42% | C+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 158 | 79.0% | 53 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 134 | 64.3% | 107 min | 5.22% | D− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 120 | 76.7% | 85 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 57 | 80.4% | 68 min | 10.53% | B− |
Spirit Airlines cancels 7.6% 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
Busiest routes out of DTW in February
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTW to ORD · Chicago | 443 | 75.2% | 82 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| DTW to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 358 | 81.5% | 103 min | 0.28% | B+ |
| DTW to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 354 | 81.1% | 64 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| DTW to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 324 | 77.6% | 70 min | 11.73% | B− |
| DTW to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 284 | 78.9% | 56 min | 9.51% | B− |
| DTW to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 262 | 73.9% | 62 min | 1.91% | C |
| DTW to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 261 | 83.9% | 110 min | 2.68% | B |
| DTW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 239 | 58.0% | 77 min | 4.60% | D− |
| DTW to TPA · Tampathin sample | 234 | 80.1% | 46 min | 3.42% | B− |
| DTW to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 225 | 80.3% | 43 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| DTW to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 221 | 72.3% | 50 min | 0.45% | C+ |
| DTW to DEN · Denverthin sample | 215 | 77.6% | 64 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| DTW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 213 | 76.0% | 65 min | 6.10% | B− |
| DTW to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 208 | 76.6% | 44 min | 1.44% | B |
| DTW to MIA · Miamithin sample | 191 | 82.4% | 46 min | 1.57% | B |
| DTW to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 179 | 77.0% | 45 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| DTW to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 159 | 74.7% | 51 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| DTW to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 156 | 80.7% | 65 min | 7.05% | B− |
| DTW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 154 | 79.2% | 46 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| DTW to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 149 | 85.1% | 53 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| DTW to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 141 | 82.9% | 73 min | 0.71% | B+ |
| DTW to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 138 | 82.8% | 55 min | 2.17% | B |
| DTW to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 125 | 70.7% | 45 min | 0.80% | C+ |
| DTW to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 122 | 70.2% | 134 min | 0.82% | C+ |
| DTW to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 112 | 67.0% | 49 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delay causes
What held DTW up in February
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 58% of the 166,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 58%Carrier
- 17%National Airspace System
- 15%Late-arriving aircraft
- 9%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 58%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 97,000 of the 166,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 165,590 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 2.13% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.24%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.2% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 6.5% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from DTW in February
For a February trip through DTW: expect 75.7% on time and 2.13% cancelled, going by February 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW), the whole year
- DTW in July73.0%
- DTW in August81.3%
- DTW in September87.1%
- DTW in October85.3%
- DTW in November78.4%
- DTW in December62.0%
- DTW in January64.8%
- DTW in March71.6%
- DTW in April81.1%
- DTW in May80.9%
- DTW in June79.1%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.