Detroit to Louisville

What the Data Says About DTW to SDF

The Detroit to Louisville corridor (DTW → SDF) covers roughly 306 miles and is served by 18 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,360 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 84.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,449 flights were recorded on this pairing — 13 cancelled (0.5%) and 4 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 18 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,360 total flights analyzed, the 84.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.3-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, Sep 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 63% on-time — a 33-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DTW to SDF route, the combination of a 84.6% on-time rate, 80.3-minute average delay, 0.5% recent cancellation rate, and 18 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.