SEA to DTW flight delays
Seattle, WA (SEA) Detroit, MI (DTW) · 1,927 miles
209 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
91.35%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
44 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
5 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The two directions do not behave alike. DTW to SEA arrives on time 14.8 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 route does better than its own airport. Departures from SEA overall run 17 points less punctual than this particular one — so whatever congestion SEA has, this route is largely escaping it.
Flights from Seattle to Detroit are among the most dependable in the record. A route this punctual is usually a short hop between airports with slots to spare.
Only Delta Air Lines flies this route in the published record, so there is no choice to weigh — the route's figures and the airline's are the same figures.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Delta Air Lines arrived on time most often on SEA to DTW.
Every airline on SEA 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 | 149 | 91.89% | 0% | 48 min | A |
| Alaska Airlines | 60 | 90% | 0% | 35 min | — |
The return leg
DTW to SEA Detroit back to Seattle 76.56% on time COther routes from Seattle
Common questions
Are flights from Seattle to Detroit usually delayed?
91.35% of flights on the SEA to DTW route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 1 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Seattle to Detroit?
Only Delta Air Lines appears in the published record on this route, with 149 flights and 91.89% arriving on time.
How often are SEA to DTW flights cancelled?
0% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 1 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
When SEA to DTW flights are late, how late are they?
About 44 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 SEA to DTW 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 →