Skip to content
WanderNerd

Route Reliability

Philadelphia → Detroit

PHLDTW · 453 miles · Philadelphia International Airport to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

77
Usually Fine
WanderNerd Reliability Score
80%
Arrive within 15 minutes
9 min
Average arrival delay
2.7%
Cancelled
3,012
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

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

  1. 1.Spirit Airlines88%156 flights
  2. 2.Delta Air Lines82%1,677 flights
  3. 3.American Airlines77%1,116 flights

Not enough history to rank: Frontier Airlines (63 flights). We rank airlines only after 100 flights on the route.

What the data says

Morning flights do better here.

PHL–DTW flights departing between 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 89% of the time, versus 68% between 3–6 PM.

Friday is doing you no favors.

PHL–DTW flights arrived on time 87% of the time on Tuesdays. On Fridays: 76%.

Spirit Airlines runs this route best.

Spirit Airlines arrived on time 88% of the time on this route; American Airlines managed 77%.

Trending in the right direction.

PHL–DTW flights arrived on time 84% of the time over the last three months in the data, compared with 73% 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
  • Mon80%(429 flights)
  • Tue87%(404 flights)
  • Wed81%(401 flights)
  • Thu78%(438 flights)
  • Fri76%(438 flights)
  • Sat81%(367 flights)
  • Sun77%(450 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 6–9 AM87%(809 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM89%(467 flights)
  • 12–3 PM80%(609 flights)
  • 3–6 PM68%(451 flights)
  • 6–9 PM69%(359 flights)
  • 9 PM–12 AM73%(232 flights)
On-time trend by month
86%
May

Jun 78% → May 86% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202578%254
July 202568%272
August 202581%266
September 202589%265
October 202587%284
November 202581%236
December 202566%226
January 202673%205
February 202678%203
March 202683%231
April 202682%241
May 202686%244

Based on 3,012 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.