Route profile
PHL→DTW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Philadelphia to Detroit, 453 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 33% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,336 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
PHL → DTW arrives on time 81.0% of the time; the return trip, DTW → PHL, arrives on time 80.5% of the time.
PHL → DTW spends 28.2 minutes on the ground on a 453-mile trip: 19.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHL and 9.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at DTW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 97% of 5,368 comparable routes.
80.1% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 79.9% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where PHL to DTW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
PHL to DTW is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 10 PM: 78.9% arrive on time, 11.9 points ahead of the 67.0% those routes manage at that hour.
PHL to DTW struggles most at 8 AM: 82.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 4.3 points behind the 87.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour.
PHL to DTW holds up on Sundays better than routes of similar length do: 79.3% on time to their 74.9%, a 4.4 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.5 points.
March is kinder to PHL to DTW than to routes of similar length: 87.2% on time against 78.8%, 8.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
In January, PHL to DTW runs 4.7 points below routes of similar length, 75.0% on time to 79.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 4.1 points.
PHL to DTW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 78.9% | routes of similar length | 67.0% | +11.9 pts | 123 here, 35,104 there |
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 82.8% | routes of similar length | 87.1% | −4.3 pts | 500 here, 107,506 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 79.3% | routes of similar length | 74.9% | +4.4 pts | 1,370 here, 231,269 there |
| Month: March | 87.2% | routes of similar length | 78.8% | +8.4 pts | 626 here, 126,555 there |
| Month: January | 75.0% | routes of similar length | 79.7% | −4.7 pts | 636 here, 113,353 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 453 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 PHL → DTW flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
PHL → DTW cancelled 216 of 9,336 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 43. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 63.9% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 68 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 216 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.
138 cancellations, 63.9% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
62 cancellations, 28.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
16 cancellations, 7.4% 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.
216 coded cancellations were recorded on PHL → DTW; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
50 min late
against a median of 11 min early
PHL → DTW has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 11 min early, but the worst tenth are 61 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 9,336 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DTW after arriving from PHL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 29% | High risk |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 8.4% | 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 2.31% of the time and diverts 0.09% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,112 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 50 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,336 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PHL → DTW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.8% of the time, against 71.5% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 17.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 90.9% on time from 1,193 flights
- 7 AM: 90.2% on time from 122 flights
- 8 AM: 82.8% on time from 513 flights
- 9 AM: 88.3% on time from 1,061 flights
- 10 AM: 86.2% on time from 461 flights
- 11 AM: 87.3% on time from 167 flights
- 12 PM: 86.2% on time from 1,035 flights
- 1 PM: 77.6% on time from 875 flights
- 2 PM: 80.6% on time from 164 flights
- 3 PM: 73.3% on time from 421 flights
- 4 PM: 70.9% on time from 260 flights
- 5 PM: 75.8% on time from 802 flights
- 6 PM: 76.8% on time from 390 flights
- 7 PM: 66.3% on time from 543 flights
- 8 PM: 72.9% on time from 532 flights
- 9 PM: 72.1% on time from 579 flights
- 10 PM: 78.9% on time from 137 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why PHL → 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 PHL → DTW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHL → DTW, at 40.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.8% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 71.5%.
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 | 4,464 | 85.1% | 1.48% | -15 min | 7.3% |
| PSA Airlines | 1,811 | 77.0% | 4.97% | -7 min | 10.2% |
| American Airlines | 1,319 | 76.4% | 2.50% | -7 min | 9.5% |
| Spirit Airlines | 741 | 77.5% | 0.94% | -6 min | 7.8% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 337 | 76.6% | 1.19% | -9 min | 14.1% |
| Republic Airways | 265 | 81.9% | 2.26% | -9 min | 6.9% |
| Frontier Airlines | 235 | 67.6% | 4.26% | -1 min | 12.4% |
Delta Air Lines flew 48.7% of the 9,172 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 4.97% of its flights here against 0.94% for Spirit Airlines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 17.5 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL1540 Delta Air Lines | 6:00 AM | 766 | 92.0% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.0%
- Feb: 82.9%
- Mar: 87.2%
- Apr: 81.5%
- May: 83.8%
- Jun: 78.6%
- Jul: 71.0%
- Aug: 77.5%
- Sep: 86.5%
- Oct: 88.4%
- Nov: 86.7%
- Dec: 77.0%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 17.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 73.0% from 262 flights
- August 2023: 84.6% from 271 flights
- September 2023: 85.8% from 269 flights
- October 2023: 90.4% from 260 flights
- November 2023: 87.0% from 185 flights
- December 2023: 87.1% from 232 flights
- January 2024: 72.5% from 228 flights
- February 2024: 93.4% from 197 flights
- March 2024: 87.3% from 237 flights
- April 2024: 83.8% from 242 flights
- May 2024: 85.9% from 271 flights
- June 2024: 77.2% from 329 flights
- July 2024: 72.3% from 342 flights
- August 2024: 68.9% from 340 flights
- September 2024: 85.3% from 300 flights
- October 2024: 88.6% from 315 flights
- November 2024: 92.0% from 263 flights
- December 2024: 77.9% from 242 flights
- January 2025: 79.0% from 220 flights
- February 2025: 77.2% from 199 flights
- March 2025: 88.0% from 189 flights
- April 2025: 77.5% from 205 flights
- May 2025: 79.4% from 252 flights
- June 2025: 79.3% from 252 flights
- July 2025: 67.5% from 281 flights
- August 2025: 80.8% from 268 flights
- September 2025: 88.7% from 267 flights
- October 2025: 86.5% from 282 flights
- November 2025: 80.5% from 239 flights
- December 2025: 65.6% from 232 flights
- January 2026: 73.5% from 219 flights
- February 2026: 78.0% from 212 flights
- March 2026: 86.4% from 220 flights
- April 2026: 82.6% from 233 flights
- May 2026: 85.9% from 248 flights
- June 2026: 79.7% from 251 flights
- July 2026: 70.9% from 282 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.1% against 79.9% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,336 PHL → 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