Detroit to South Bend

What the Data Says About DTW to SBN

The Detroit to South Bend corridor (DTW → SBN) covers roughly 157 miles and is served by 5 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 3,331 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 94.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 929 flights were recorded on this pairing — 8 cancelled (0.9%) and 1 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 5 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 3,331 total flights analyzed, the 81.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 94.3-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, Oct 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 82% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 63% on-time — a 19-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DTW to SBN route, the combination of a 81.6% on-time rate, 94.3-minute average delay, 0.9% recent cancellation rate, and 5 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.