Rochester to Detroit

What the Data Says About ROC to DTW

The Rochester to Detroit corridor (ROC → DTW) covers roughly 296 miles and is served by 16 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,509 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 88.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 100.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,019 flights were recorded on this pairing — 16 cancelled (0.8%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 16 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,509 total flights analyzed, the 88.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 100.8-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, Nov 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 98% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 68% on-time — a 30-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ROC to DTW route, the combination of a 88.3% on-time rate, 100.8-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 16 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.