Historical on-time performance
Los Angeles to Detroit
1,979 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on LAX–DTW arrive on time 83% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate83%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay30 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.6%of scheduled flights
based on 2,690 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
Too close to call — no single carrier is clearly more on-time here.
- Delta Air LinesOn-time83%Medianon timep9025 minCancel0.6%Flights1,975
- Spirit AirlinesOn-time84%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.8%Flights715
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline44%
- Weather4%
- Air traffic (NAS)18%
- Late aircraft34%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Airline.
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly LAX → DTW
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 89% on time.
- Mornings89% on time · p90 15 min · 2,858 flights
- Middays84% on time · p90 25 min · 1,776 flights
- Afternoons80% on time · p90 35 min · 1,201 flights
- Evenings78% on time · p90 50 min · 223 flights
- Overnights77% on time · p90 40 min · 2,098 flights
- Early mornings55% on time · p90 75 min · 65 flights · limited
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 80% to 86% on time.
- Tuesdays86% on time · p90 20 min · 1,135 flights
- Wednesdays86% on time · p90 20 min · 1,140 flights
- Saturdays84% on time · p90 20 min · 1,099 flights
- Fridays83% on time · p90 25 min · 1,221 flights
- Thursdays81% on time · p90 30 min · 1,204 flights
- Mondays81% on time · p90 35 min · 1,212 flights
- Sundays80% on time · p90 35 min · 1,210 flights
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