RIC to DTW flight delays
Richmond, VA (RIC) Detroit, MI (DTW) · 455 miles
687 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
84.09%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.02%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
87 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
15 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Delta Air Lines arrived on time 13.3 points more often than SkyWest Airlines 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 87 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 September it ran 21.6 points more punctual than in July — 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 Richmond to Detroit 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 January 2025 – August 2026, Delta Air Lines arrived on time most often on RIC to DTW. SkyWest Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in September and worst in July.
Every airline on RIC 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 281 | 77.62% | 1.07% | 98 min | C |
| Delta Air Lines | 268 | 90.94% | 1.12% | 72 min | A |
| Republic Airways | 118 | 87.18% | 0.85% | 91 min | A |
| Spirit Airlines | 20 | 65% | 0% | 37 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
DTW to RIC Detroit back to Richmond 81.27% on time BOther routes from Richmond
Common questions
Are flights from Richmond to Detroit usually delayed?
84.09% of flights on the RIC to DTW 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 Richmond to Detroit?
Delta Air Lines, at 90.94% on time across 268 flights. The least punctual on the route was SkyWest Airlines at 77.62%.
How often are RIC to DTW flights cancelled?
1.02% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 10 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Richmond to Detroit?
September, when 93.5% of flights arrived on time. The worst was July at 71.9%.
When RIC to DTW flights are late, how late are they?
About 87 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 RIC 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 →