DTW to CLT flight delays
Detroit, MI (DTW) Charlotte, NC (CLT) · 500 miles
269 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
83.4%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.49%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
64 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
11 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. American Airlines arrived on time 10.5 points more often than Delta Air Lines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The two directions do not behave alike. CLT to DTW arrives on time 9.2 points less often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
This is a thin route — 269 flights across the whole period. On a route this infrequent a cancellation is far more costly than the rate suggests, because the next departure may not be the same day.
Flights from Detroit to Charlotte keep to schedule more reliably than most. On a route this punctual the day you fly matters more than the airline you pick.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, American Airlines arrived on time most often on DTW to CLT. Delta Air Lines was late most often.
Every airline on DTW to CLT
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 156 | 87.74% | 0.64% | 59 min | A |
| Delta Air Lines | 113 | 77.27% | 2.65% | 67 min | C |
The return leg
CLT to DTW Charlotte back to Detroit 74.24% on time COther routes from Detroit
Common questions
Are flights from Detroit to Charlotte usually delayed?
83.4% of flights on the DTW to CLT route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Detroit to Charlotte?
American Airlines, at 87.74% on time across 156 flights. The least punctual on the route was Delta Air Lines at 77.27%.
How often are DTW to CLT flights cancelled?
1.49% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 15 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
When DTW to CLT flights are late, how late are they?
About 64 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DTW to CLT during March 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →