Detroit (DTW) – Los Angeles (LAX)
- Distance
- 3,185 km
- 1,979 mi · 1,720 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 52 min / 4 h 16 min
- Average gate to gate: DTW → LAX / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 400 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (236 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 793,602
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −11.5%
- Flights / week
- 94
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 84%
- 941,274 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- DL, NK
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DTW
- 265°
- Heading from LAX
- 63°
- Halfway point
- 39.41, -101.90
- Great-circle km
- 3,178 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DTW → LAX
- 4 h 23 min
- In the air LAX → DTW
- 3 h 50 min
- Clocks
- Los Angeles is 3 h behind Detroit
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 35 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 80,853 |
| Sep 2025 | 66,992 |
| Oct 2025 | 74,003 |
| Nov 2025 | 56,998 |
| Dec 2025 | 66,144 |
| Jan 2026 | 61,060 |
| Feb 2026 | 56,569 |
| Mar 2026 | 69,843 |
| Apr 2026 | 66,279 |
| May 2026 | 60,778 |
| Jun 2026 | 63,696 |
| Jul 2026 | 70,387 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 490 |
| Sep 2025 | 462 |
| Oct 2025 | 472 |
| Nov 2025 | 367 |
| Dec 2025 | 416 |
| Jan 2026 | 401 |
| Feb 2026 | 356 |
| Mar 2026 | 416 |
| Apr 2026 | 414 |
| May 2026 | 368 |
| Jun 2026 | 346 |
| Jul 2026 | 373 |
Airlines flying DTW–LAX nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 75 | 82% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 18 | 18% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 1,537 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 1,192 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 897 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 489 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 438 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 206 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 71 flights
- Boeing 767-300/300ER · 15 flights
Also carried: 601 tonnes of freight and 528 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 80%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 14 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1%
- Flights counted
- 4,900
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 80.3% | 13 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 78.5% | 17 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 52% · aircraft arriving late 25% · air traffic system 19% · weather 3% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $367
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $328
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 60% of passengers · $490
- Lowest-fare airline
- Spirit Air Lines
- 34% of passengers · $154
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $302 · Q3 2025 $294 · Q4 2025 $361 · Q1 2026 $367).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $374, likely $332–$426
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 86% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 5.4%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q3, typically 3% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,178 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.