LGA to DTW flight delays
New York, NY (LGA) Detroit, MI (DTW) · 502 miles
4,011 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
78.04%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
4.94%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
82 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
19 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth pricing here: 4.94% of scheduled flights never operated. A late flight still gets you there. A cancelled one leaves you rebooking, and on a route with few daily departures that can mean losing a day.
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Delta Air Lines arrived on time 6.2 points more often than Republic Airways 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 shape of the lateness matters here. Flights on this route are not late often, but when they are late they are late by about 82 minutes — long enough to lose a connection or an evening. The on-time percentage looks reassuring and understates the consequence of being on the wrong flight.
The season swings this route hard. In August it ran 24.9 points more punctual than in December — 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.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Delta Air Lines arrived on time most often on LGA to DTW. Republic Airways was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in August and worst in December.
Every airline on LGA to DTW
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 | 1,980 | 81.08% | 3.54% | 85 min | C |
| Republic Airways | 1,033 | 74.87% | 5.23% | 71 min | D |
| Spirit Airlines | 998 | 75.11% | 7.41% | 89 min | F |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
DTW to LGA Detroit back to New York 75.37% on time DOther routes from New York
Common questions
Are flights from New York to Detroit usually delayed?
78.04% of flights on the LGA to DTW route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from New York to Detroit?
Delta Air Lines, at 81.08% on time across 1,980 flights. The least punctual on the route was Republic Airways at 74.87%.
How often are LGA to DTW flights cancelled?
4.94% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 49 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
What is the best month to fly New York to Detroit?
August, when 89.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was December at 64.2%.
When LGA to DTW flights are late, how late are they?
About 82 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 LGA to DTW 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 →