Detroit to Washington

What the Data Says About DTW to IAD

The Detroit to Washington corridor (DTW → IAD) covers roughly 383 miles and is served by 39 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,240 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,402 flights were recorded on this pairing — 13 cancelled (0.5%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 39 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,240 total flights analyzed, the 82.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.2-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 91% on-time, while Jan 2025 came in at 58% on-time — a 33-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DTW to IAD route, the combination of a 82.9% on-time rate, 85.2-minute average delay, 0.5% recent cancellation rate, and 39 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.