Flights Detroit → Houston
DTW → IAH
How long is the flight from Detroit to Houston?
The flight from Detroit (DTW) to Houston (IAH) takes 2h 31m on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Detroit to Houston operates with an average on-time performance rate of 81%, experiencing a mean delay of 11.8 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 692 flights using a variety of aircraft including Boeing 717s, Airbus A320s, Airbus A319s, and Boeing 737-700s, serving one of the busiest destination airports in terms of annual passenger traffic at 40,979,422 passengers.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Detroit (DTW) → Houston (IAH) route is operated by Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines. Across 1665 flights monitored in recent months, 80% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 12 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.26%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 23.7/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Houston the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Detroit the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Houston: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Detroit (DTW) to Houston (IAH) heads south-west for about 1,731 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 31m.
Departures from Detroit on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 40% of DTW-IAH flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Detroit the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Houston it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,665 tracked DTW-IAH flights, 80% left on time with an average delay of 12 min and a 1.3% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 85% | 1 min | 0.8% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
| Spirit Airlines (NK) | 66% | 19 min | 3.4% |
Airlines operating DTW-IAH
Airports
Frequently asked questions about DTW-IAH
The flight from Detroit (DTW) to Houston (IAH) takes 2h 31m on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Detroit (DTW) -> Houston (IAH) route, on-time performance is 80% with an average delay of 12 minutes, based on 1665 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Detroit-Houston is 1.26% across 1665 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 3 airlines: Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Houston, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
