Best time to fly out of Detroit Wayne (DTW)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Detroit Wayne: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 91.5% of the time, against 70.1% in the 10pm–12am band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 93 | 93 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 90 | 89 |
| 6–8am | 89 | 91 | 92 | 91 | 89 | 88 | 89 |
| 8–10am | 87 | 89 | 91 | 88 | 87 | 87 | 87 |
| 10am–12pm | 85 | 85 | 88 | 86 | 84 | 86 | 83 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 84 | 85 | 82 | 81 | 84 | 80 |
| 2–4pm | 77 | 81 | 81 | 78 | 76 | 80 | 74 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 78 | 78 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 73 |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 77 | 76 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 68 |
| 8–10pm | 75 | 80 | 79 | 75 | 74 | 81 | 69 |
| 10pm–12am | 71 | 76 | 74 | 65 | 69 | 76 | 65 |
The steadiest stretch at DTW was Before 6am — 91.5% of departures left on time across 6,399 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 70.1%. 6–8am departures from DTW left on time 89.7% of the time across 38,001 flights; 6–8pm departures, 72.2% across 29,466. That is a gap of 17.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at DTW
July was the hard month at DTW: 73.9% of departures left on time, across 33,998 flights. October was the easy one at 87.6%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74.7% | 28,244 |
| February | 81.8% | 26,799 |
| March | 79.6% | 31,830 |
| April | 84.3% | 31,245 |
| May | 81.4% | 31,960 |
| June | 77.4% | 32,047 |
| July | 73.9% | 33,998 |
| August | 79.1% | 33,961 |
| September | 87% | 31,998 |
| October | 87.6% | 33,894 |
| November | 86.3% | 31,193 |
| December | 77.8% | 31,014 |
Airlines at DTW
Every airline with at least 100 departures from DTW, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 81.1% | 69 min | 0.9% | 178,164 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 78.7% | 91 min | 1.2% | 77,843 |
| Spirit Airlines | 79.6% | 66 min | 1.6% | 30,207 |
| Endeavor Air | 88% | 73 min | 0.8% | 21,464 |
| American Airlines | 82.8% | 107 min | 1.7% | 15,940 |
| Republic Airways | 87.5% | 81 min | 2.6% | 15,462 |
| Southwest Airlines | 78% | 49 min | 0.7% | 12,624 |
| Frontier Airlines | 71.6% | 86 min | 2.2% | 7,636 |
| United Airlines | 85.4% | 86 min | 1.2% | 6,996 |
| PSA Airlines | 82.3% | 126 min | 4.5% | 4,308 |
| JetBlue Airways | 77.2% | 99 min | 2.4% | 3,600 |
| Envoy Air | 81.2% | 72 min | 2.8% | 2,360 |
| Alaska Airlines | 76.5% | 45 min | 0.8% | 1,579 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Endeavor Air (through December 2024) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of DTW were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 75,500 flights that departed DTW and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 50.7% put down to airline operations and 20.9% to air traffic & airport volume.
- Late-arriving aircraft 20.4%
- Airline operations 50.7%
- Air traffic & airport volume 20.9%
- Severe weather 7.9%
- Security 0.1%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through DTW
Of 378,166 scheduled arrivals into DTW, 80.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 69,172 arrivals that ran late, 49.8% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of DTW
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- ORD 77.8% on time · 16,884 flights
- ATL 80.9% on time · 14,994 flights
- LGA 80.1% on time · 12,238 flights
- MCO 77.6% on time · 11,538 flights
- DFW 75.4% on time · 10,933 flights
- CLT 84.2% on time · 10,893 flights
- EWR 78.7% on time · 10,067 flights
- LAS 79% on time · 9,265 flights
- DEN 80.1% on time · 9,098 flights
- PHL 80.9% on time · 9,057 flights
DTW in one number
Detroit Wayne (DTW)
Rank 15 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about DTW
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Detroit Wayne?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 91.5% of the time across 6,399 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 70.1%.
- Is the early flight out of DTW really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from DTW left on time 89.7% of the time across 38,001 flights; 6–8pm departures, 72.2% across 29,466. That is a gap of 17.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of DTW?
- July: 73.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 33,998 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 87.6%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at DTW?
- Republic Airways — 87.5% of its 15,462 departures from DTW left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 71.6% over 7,636 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
- How often are flights cancelled at DTW?
- 1.2% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.