Route profile
MIA→DTW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Miami to Detroit, 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 25% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 5,288 flights. How this is calculated
MIA → DTW arrives on time 73.4% of the time; the return trip, DTW → MIA, arrives on time 77.6% of the time, a 4.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
MIA → DTW spends 31.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,145-mile trip: 22.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MIA and 9.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at DTW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where MIA to DTW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MIA to DTW struggles most at 4 PM: 56.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 12.1 points behind the 68.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.5 points.
MIA to DTW is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 AM: 90.3% arrive on time, 4.5 points ahead of the 85.8% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 4.4 points.
Saturday is the day MIA to DTW slips furthest against routes of similar length, 70.6% on time where they average 77.1%, 6.5 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 8.5 points.
In January, MIA to DTW runs 9 points below routes of similar length, 67.9% on time to 76.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 11.2 points.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on MIA to DTW arrive on time 66.0% of the time, 7.5 points below the 73.5% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
MIA to DTW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 56.2% | routes of similar length | 68.3% | −12.1 pts | 121 here, 137,624 there |
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 90.3% | routes of similar length | 85.8% | +4.5 pts | 1,056 here, 162,476 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 70.6% | routes of similar length | 77.1% | −6.5 pts | 751 here, 327,095 there |
| Month: January | 67.9% | routes of similar length | 76.9% | −9.0 pts | 486 here, 188,563 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 66.0% | routes of similar length | 73.5% | −7.5 pts | 844 here, 155,495 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 MIA → DTW flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
MIA → DTW cancelled 64 of 5,288 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 83. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 60.9% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 136 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 64 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.
39 cancellations, 60.9% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
20 cancellations, 31.3% 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, 7.8% 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.
64 coded cancellations were recorded on MIA → DTW; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
56 min late
against a median of 4 min early
MIA → DTW has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 4 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 5,288 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DTW after arriving from MIA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.2% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.9% | Some 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 1.21% 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 5,211 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 56 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 5,288 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MIA → DTW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.1% of the time, against 62.5% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 27.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 90.3% on time from 1,065 flights
- 9 AM to 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 72.9% on time from 181 flights
- 12 PM: 73.1% on time from 928 flights
- 1 PM: 78.4% on time from 188 flights
- 2 PM: 75.0% on time from 322 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 56.2% on time from 124 flights
- 5 PM: 63.0% on time from 359 flights
- 6 PM: 68.9% on time from 339 flights
- 7 PM: 67.8% on time from 243 flights
- 8 PM: 60.3% on time from 587 flights
- 9 PM: 68.6% on time from 688 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MIA → DTW runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
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 MIA → DTW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MIA → DTW, at 37.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.1% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 62.5%.
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 | 2,859 | 78.2% | 0.80% | -6 min | 7.5% |
| American Airlines | 1,184 | 66.9% | 1.18% | 0 min | 10.7% |
| Spirit Airlines | 866 | 66.0% | 2.54% | 0 min | 14.2% |
| Envoy Air | 305 | 75.7% | 0.98% | -2 min | 7.0% |
Delta Air Lines flew 54.8% of the 5,214 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 2.54% of its flights here against 0.80% for Delta Air Lines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 12.2 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.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 11.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 67.9%
- Feb: 75.3%
- Mar: 66.6%
- Apr: 75.1%
- May: 77.3%
- Jun: 71.8%
- Jul: 65.2%
- Aug: 68.7%
- Sep: 83.4%
- Oct: 86.8%
- Nov: 80.9%
- Dec: 70.2%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 21.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 56.8% from 129 flights
- August 2023: 69.4% from 124 flights
- September 2023: 79.0% from 120 flights
- October 2023: too few flights to score (117)
- November 2023: 81.0% from 142 flights
- December 2023: 76.4% from 157 flights
- January 2024: 65.5% from 171 flights
- February 2024: 75.1% from 175 flights
- March 2024: 68.1% from 191 flights
- April 2024: 75.8% from 151 flights
- May 2024: 72.5% 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: 87.6% from 122 flights
- December 2024: 69.9% from 166 flights
- January 2025: 63.8% from 141 flights
- February 2025: 75.6% from 171 flights
- March 2025: 67.5% from 203 flights
- April 2025: 75.2% from 157 flights
- May 2025: 81.8% from 138 flights
- June 2025: 73.7% from 134 flights
- July 2025: 70.9% from 137 flights
- August 2025: 65.2% from 132 flights
- September 2025: 83.3% from 120 flights
- October 2025: 84.4% from 136 flights
- November 2025: 75.0% from 142 flights
- December 2025: 64.6% from 168 flights
- January 2026: 73.4% from 181 flights
- February 2026: 75.3% from 189 flights
- March 2026: 64.4% from 226 flights
- April 2026: 74.2% from 161 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- 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 72.6% against 75.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 5,288 MIA → DTW 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