DTW to MSY flight delays
Detroit, MI (DTW) New Orleans, LA (MSY) · 926 miles
828 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
84.84%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.21%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
56 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
9 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The season swings this route hard. In May it ran 23.4 points more punctual than in January — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
Flights from Detroit to New Orleans keep to schedule more reliably than most. On a route this punctual the day you fly matters more than the airline you pick.
The 2 airlines here are separated by under 2 points — close enough to call a tie. Choose on price and departure time.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Delta Air Lines arrived on time most often on DTW to MSY. Spirit Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in May and worst in January.
Every airline on DTW to MSY
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 628 | 84.98% | 1.43% | 52 min | B |
| Spirit Airlines | 177 | 82.95% | 0.56% | 69 min | B |
| Frontier Airlines | 23 | 95.65% | 0% | 86 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
MSY to DTW New Orleans back to Detroit 83.74% on time BOther routes from Detroit
Common questions
Are flights from Detroit to New Orleans usually delayed?
84.84% of flights on the DTW to MSY 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 New Orleans?
Delta Air Lines, at 84.98% on time across 628 flights. The least punctual on the route was Spirit Airlines at 82.95%.
How often are DTW to MSY flights cancelled?
1.21% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 12 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Detroit to New Orleans?
May, when 93.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was January at 69.7%.
When DTW to MSY flights are late, how late are they?
About 56 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 MSY during January 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 →