Detroit to Saginaw/Bay City/Midland

What the Data Says About DTW to MBS

The Detroit to Saginaw/Bay City/Midland corridor (DTW → MBS) covers roughly 98 miles and is served by 4 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,438 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86% on-time rate with an average delay of 83.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,388 flights were recorded on this pairing — 22 cancelled (0.9%) 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 6,438 total flights analyzed, the 86% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 83.5-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 94% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 57% on-time — a 36-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DTW to MBS route, the combination of a 86% on-time rate, 83.5-minute average delay, 0.9% recent cancellation rate, and 4 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.