Route profile
SAN→DTW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from San Diego to Detroit, 1,956 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 92% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,834 flights. How this is calculated
SAN → DTW arrives on time 84.8% of the time; the return trip, DTW → SAN, arrives on time 77.9% of the time, a 6.9-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SAN → DTW spends 33.4 minutes on the ground on a 1,956-mile trip: 23.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SAN and 10.2 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 stays close to typical even on its worst days, a smaller gap than 91% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 7 min early, and the worst tenth are only 31 minutes worse than that.
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 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where SAN to DTW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SAN to DTW is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 2 PM: 87.8% arrive on time, 13.1 points ahead of the 74.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13.2 points.
SAN to DTW holds up on Fridays better than routes of similar length do: 84.5% on time to their 76.9%, a 7.6 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 8.3 points.
May is kinder to SAN to DTW than to routes of similar length: 89.4% on time against 76.5%, 12.9 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 14.2 points.
Delta Air Lines does better on SAN to DTW than on its routes of similar length: 85.1% on time here, 81.7% there, 3.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3.6 points.
SAN to DTW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 87.8% | routes of similar length | 74.7% | +13.1 pts | 123 here, 47,970 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 84.5% | routes of similar length | 76.9% | +7.6 pts | 582 here, 164,206 there |
| Month: May | 89.4% | routes of similar length | 76.5% | +12.9 pts | 329 here, 96,480 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 85.1% | routes of similar length | 81.7% | +3.4 pts | 3,736 here, 301,726 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 1,956 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
24 min late
against a median of 7 min early
Percentiles over 3,834 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DTW after arriving from SAN.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 33% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 7.6% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 3.2% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 1.9% | 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 0.70% of the time and diverts 0.16% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,801 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 24 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,834 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SAN → DTW flights departing 9 PM–5 AM arrived on time 89.1% of the time, against 75.2% for 9 AM–12 PM departures, a gap of 13.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 89.5% on time from 680 flights
- 7 AM: 84.3% on time from 447 flights
- 8 AM to 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 75.2% on time from 630 flights
- 12 PM: 83.2% on time from 562 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 87.8% on time from 123 flights
- 3 PM: 83.1% on time from 418 flights
- 4 PM to 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 89.1% on time from 961 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SAN → DTW runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
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 SAN → DTW. 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 | 3,768 | 85.1% | 0.69% | -7 min | 3.2% |
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
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 82.3%
- Feb: 86.7%
- Mar: 83.0%
- Apr: 91.5%
- May: 89.4%
- Jun: 80.5%
- Jul: 77.5%
- Aug: 78.3%
- Sep: 89.2%
- Oct: 88.1%
- Nov: 89.4%
- Dec: 85.5%
July is historically the weakest month and April the strongest, a spread of 14.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 81.5% from 121 flights
- August 2023: too few flights to score (110)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (104)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (109)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (101)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (113)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (64)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (58)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (85)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (99)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (110)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (113)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (113)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (103)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (103)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (77)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (70)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (89)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (109)
- June 2025: 83.1% from 124 flights
- July 2025: 80.3% from 133 flights
- August 2025: 79.1% from 131 flights
- September 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (118)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (112)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (94)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (84)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (106)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (112)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (105)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (109)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 85.3% against 84.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,834 SAN → 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