Airport month record
DTWMAR
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County in March 2026
- Departures
- 10,701
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 12
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at DTW, see live FAA status.
DTW in March carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 4.0% of scheduled flights never operate, against 2.9% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, about seven flights in ten arrive on time, worth a C− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 10,701 flights, of which American Airlines flew 404 at 83.6% on time.
American Airlines is the most reliable of the seven carriers covered here at 83.6% on time across 404 flights.
Key figures
On time
71.6%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 10,238 completed departures
Avg delay
87 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
4.02%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
76.9%
DTW across all twelve months
These figures cover 10,701 departures from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County in March 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
March next to DTW's other months
Against DTW's own year, March ran 5 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 76.9%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 4.02% of scheduled departures were called off, 2.2 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 75.7% on time and April 81.1%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better 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 | 9,122 | 75.7% | 77 min | 2.13% | B |
| March 2026 (this page) | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 22 points, against 22 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,370 flights82.5%
- 8am–11am2,563 flights78.6%
- 11am–2pm1,239 flights74.2%
- 2pm–5pm2,184 flights69.1%
- 5pm–8pm1,358 flights60.1%
- 8pm–5am1,987 flights63.8%
Scale runs 50% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 5pm–8pm window is where this operation falls apart: 60.1% on time, against 82.5% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 2,563 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 76.2% on time and Friday the weakest at 61.3%. 15 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at DTW in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 83.6% of the time; SkyWest Airlines manages 61.8%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,591 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 5,079 | 75.4% | 69 min | 2.82% | B |
| SkyWest Airlines | 2,591 | 61.8% | 111 min | 5.44% | D− |
| Spirit Airlines | 775 | 62.4% | 76 min | 8.52% | D− |
| Republic Airways | 518 | 77.3% | 66 min | 4.05% | B− |
| American Airlines | 404 | 83.6% | 90 min | 1.73% | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 399 | 74.2% | 60 min | 1.25% | C |
| Frontier Airlines | 384 | 70.7% | 103 min | 4.69% | C− |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 160 | 78.7% | 74 min | 3.12% | B− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 154 | 75.7% | 123 min | 3.90% | B− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 144 | 83.7% | 273 min | 10.42% | B− |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 62 | 83.1% | 80 min | 4.84% | B− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 54.8% | 42 min | 0.00% | F+ |
Spirit Airlines cancels 8.5% 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 March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTW to ORD · Chicago | 488 | 59.8% | 106 min | 5.94% | D− |
| DTW to ATL · Atlanta | 423 | 74.0% | 79 min | 1.42% | C |
| DTW to MCO · Orlando | 413 | 70.2% | 89 min | 3.63% | C− |
| DTW to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 333 | 68.8% | 70 min | 12.01% | C− |
| DTW to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 328 | 53.3% | 77 min | 5.79% | F− |
| DTW to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 324 | 77.4% | 76 min | 5.86% | B− |
| DTW to TPA · Tampathin sample | 320 | 76.0% | 70 min | 4.69% | B− |
| DTW to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 296 | 85.1% | 96 min | 2.03% | A |
| DTW to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 289 | 66.9% | 72 min | 5.19% | C− |
| DTW to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 281 | 76.6% | 73 min | 1.78% | B |
| DTW to DEN · Denverthin sample | 279 | 77.5% | 75 min | 1.08% | B |
| DTW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 271 | 63.3% | 111 min | 6.64% | D− |
| DTW to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 248 | 74.4% | 66 min | 0.81% | C+ |
| DTW to MIA · Miamithin sample | 226 | 75.8% | 72 min | 3.10% | B− |
| DTW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 220 | 83.7% | 101 min | 5.45% | B− |
| DTW to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 216 | 87.3% | 70 min | 1.39% | A |
| DTW to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 214 | 76.1% | 71 min | 2.34% | B |
| DTW to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 203 | 75.9% | 78 min | 3.45% | B− |
| DTW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 199 | 76.4% | 57 min | 2.01% | B |
| DTW to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 180 | 80.3% | 62 min | 1.11% | B |
| DTW to GRR · Grand Rapidsthin sample | 167 | 52.8% | 121 min | 2.40% | F |
| DTW to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 161 | 72.0% | 73 min | 2.48% | C |
| DTW to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 159 | 76.5% | 57 min | 3.14% | B− |
| DTW to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 155 | 75.8% | 73 min | 3.87% | B− |
| DTW to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 151 | 47.2% | 47 min | 3.31% | F− |
Delay causes
What held DTW up in March
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 54% of the 252,000 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.
- 54%Carrier
- 19%National Airspace System
- 19%Late-arriving aircraft
- 8%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 54%, 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 136,000 of the 252,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 252,264 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 4.02%, against 2.90% nationally. That is about one flight in 25 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 12.7% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% 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 March
For a March trip through DTW: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 82.5% on time, and with 12.7% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in September would.
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 February75.7%
- 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.