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WanderNerd

Route Reliability

Detroit → Los Angeles

DTWLAX · 1,979 miles · Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to Los Angeles International Airport

83
Pretty Reliable
WanderNerd Reliability Score
79%
Arrive within 15 minutes
4 min
Average arrival delay
0.9%
Cancelled
2,602
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

Ranked by on-time arrivals. Historical results, not predictions.

  1. 1.Spirit Airlines82%601 flights
  2. 2.Delta Air Lines78%1,999 flights

Not enough history to rank: American Airlines (2 flights). We rank airlines only after 100 flights on the route.

What the data says

Morning-you made the right choice.

DTW–LAX flights departing between 6–9 AM arrived on time 88% of the time, versus 67% between 9 PM–12 AM.

Skip Monday if you can.

DTW–LAX flights arrived on time 84% of the time on Wednesdays. On Mondays: 74%.

Spirit Airlines has a slight edge here.

Spirit Airlines arrived on time 82% of the time on this route; Delta Air Lines managed 78%.

Ticking up lately.

DTW–LAX flights arrived on time 77% of the time over the last three months in the data, compared with 71% in the three months before that.

Best historical flights

Ranked by on-time arrivals, minimum 100 flights. Past performance, not a promise.

Top flights by on-time rate

More flights on this route

The breakdown

On-time by weekday
  • Mon74%(383 flights)
  • Tue83%(353 flights)
  • Wed84%(353 flights)
  • Thu81%(377 flights)
  • Fri78%(380 flights)
  • Sat78%(345 flights)
  • Sun77%(384 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 6–9 AM88%(496 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM85%(174 flights)
  • 12–3 PM85%(529 flights)
  • 3–6 PM78%(374 flights)
  • 6–9 PM72%(809 flights)
  • 9 PM–12 AM67%(193 flights)
On-time trend by month
83%
May

Jun 81% → May 83% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202581%243
July 202581%261
August 202590%243
September 202589%229
October 202585%234
November 202581%182
December 202563%206
January 202670%201
February 202679%178
March 202677%209
April 202671%207
May 202683%182

Based on 2,602 historical flights, because apparently we checked. Historical flight data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, June 2025 – May 2026. Data through May 2026. How we calculate this.