Route profile
DTW→MIA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Detroit to Miami, 1,145 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 50% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 5,290 flights. How this is calculated
DTW → MIA arrives on time 77.6% of the time; the return trip, MIA → DTW, arrives on time 73.4% of the time, a 4.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DTW → MIA spends 28.8 minutes on the ground on a 1,145-mile trip: 18.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DTW and 10.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at MIA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 96% of 3,357 comparable routes.
90.4% on time in a typical October, against 63.8% in January.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DTW to MIA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DTW to MIA struggles most at 7 AM: 80.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.8 points behind the 88.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
DTW to MIA holds up on Tuesdays better than routes of similar length do: 85.3% on time to their 80.4%, a 4.9 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 3.7 points.
In January, DTW to MIA runs 13.1 points below routes of similar length, 63.8% on time to 76.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 15.3 points.
June is kinder to DTW to MIA than to routes of similar length: 81.2% on time against 71.6%, 9.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 8.5 points.
American Airlines does better on DTW to MIA than on its routes of similar length: 88.1% on time here, 74.3% there, 13.8 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 13 points.
DTW to MIA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 80.3% | routes of similar length | 88.1% | −7.8 pts | 361 here, 211,070 there |
| Weekday: Tuesday | 85.3% | routes of similar length | 80.4% | +4.9 pts | 675 here, 331,257 there |
| Month: January | 63.8% | routes of similar length | 76.9% | −13.1 pts | 486 here, 188,563 there |
| Month: June | 81.2% | routes of similar length | 71.6% | +9.6 pts | 357 here, 195,035 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 88.1% | routes of similar length | 74.3% | +13.8 pts | 1,168 here, 544,368 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 1,145 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why DTW → MIA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DTW → MIA cancelled 60 of 5,290 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 88. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 55.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 160 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 60 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
33 cancellations, 55.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
22 cancellations, 36.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
5 cancellations, 8.3% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
60 coded cancellations were recorded on DTW → MIA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
43 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 5,290 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MIA after arriving from DTW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.3% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.13% of the time and diverts 0.25% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 5,217 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 43 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 5,290 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DTW → MIA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 85.2% of the time, against 67.1% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 18.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 85.5% on time from 379 flights
- 6 AM: 89.2% on time from 953 flights
- 7 AM: 80.3% on time from 364 flights
- 8 AM: 82.5% on time from 789 flights
- 9 AM to 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 70.3% on time from 176 flights
- 1 PM: 73.9% on time from 286 flights
- 2 PM: 75.2% on time from 324 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 61.5% on time from 123 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 71.4% on time from 1,015 flights
- 7 PM: 65.9% on time from 189 flights
- 8 PM: 60.1% on time from 169 flights
- 9 PM: 69.5% on time from 156 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DTW → MIA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for DTW → MIA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 2,858 | 76.0% | 0.77% | -4 min | 7.9% |
| American Airlines | 1,184 | 88.1% | 1.18% | -10 min | 2.9% |
| Spirit Airlines | 868 | 71.2% | 2.19% | -3 min | 10.2% |
| Envoy Air | 306 | 72.2% | 1.31% | -5 min | 8.6% |
Delta Air Lines flew 54.8% of the 5,216 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 2.19% of its flights here against 0.77% for Delta Air Lines.
American Airlines arrived on time 16.9 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
AA1020 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 88.4% of the time, 17.3 points more often than DL2548 (6:25 PM) at 71.1%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 14.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 63.8%
- Feb: 79.9%
- Mar: 74.8%
- Apr: 83.4%
- May: 83.1%
- Jun: 81.2%
- Jul: 71.6%
- Aug: 74.9%
- Sep: 86.4%
- Oct: 90.4%
- Nov: 82.4%
- Dec: 68.0%
January is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 26.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 52.4% from 129 flights
- August 2023: 64.2% from 124 flights
- September 2023: too few flights to score (119)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (115)
- November 2023: 82.6% from 144 flights
- December 2023: 75.6% from 156 flights
- January 2024: 63.5% from 171 flights
- February 2024: 85.9% from 177 flights
- March 2024: 71.5% from 191 flights
- April 2024: 84.0% from 151 flights
- May 2024: 80.2% from 122 flights
- June 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (113)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- November 2024: 88.6% from 123 flights
- December 2024: 66.3% from 166 flights
- January 2025: 60.3% from 141 flights
- February 2025: 70.8% from 170 flights
- March 2025: 76.8% from 203 flights
- April 2025: 79.4% from 157 flights
- May 2025: 81.2% from 138 flights
- June 2025: 78.9% from 134 flights
- July 2025: 84.1% from 136 flights
- August 2025: 84.2% from 133 flights
- September 2025: 89.2% from 120 flights
- October 2025: 90.4% from 136 flights
- November 2025: 76.6% from 140 flights
- December 2025: 62.4% from 169 flights
- January 2026: 66.9% from 182 flights
- February 2026: 82.4% from 191 flights
- March 2026: 75.8% from 226 flights
- April 2026: 86.8% from 162 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (103)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (117)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (98)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.4% against 77.8% in the 12 months before — improving by 2.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 5,290 DTW → MIA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed