Detroit to Cedar Rapids/Iowa City

What the Data Says About DTW to CID

The Detroit to Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor (DTW → CID) covers roughly 430 miles and is served by 4 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,505 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 89.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 61.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,346 flights were recorded on this pairing — 14 cancelled (1.0%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 4 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,505 total flights analyzed, the 89.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 61.3-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, May 2021 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while Jun 2021 came in at 83% on-time — a 14-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DTW to CID route, the combination of a 89.5% on-time rate, 61.3-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 4 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.