Detroit (DTW) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 3,148 km
- 1,956 mi · 1,700 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 47 min / 4 h 22 min
- Average gate to gate: DTW → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 395 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (234 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 384,460
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +2.4%
- Flights / week
- 49
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 79%
- 485,273 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
- 262°
- Heading from SAN
- 61°
- Halfway point
- 38.71, -101.38
- Great-circle km
- 3,142 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DTW → SAN
- 4 h 21 min
- In the air SAN → DTW
- 3 h 47 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 3 h behind Detroit
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 30 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 40,815 |
| Sep 2025 | 33,406 |
| Oct 2025 | 35,593 |
| Nov 2025 | 30,601 |
| Dec 2025 | 30,540 |
| Jan 2026 | 24,585 |
| Feb 2026 | 23,963 |
| Mar 2026 | 28,058 |
| Apr 2026 | 30,226 |
| May 2026 | 32,706 |
| Jun 2026 | 36,384 |
| Jul 2026 | 37,583 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 259 |
| Sep 2025 | 231 |
| Oct 2025 | 236 |
| Nov 2025 | 213 |
| Dec 2025 | 218 |
| Jan 2026 | 183 |
| Feb 2026 | 166 |
| Mar 2026 | 181 |
| Apr 2026 | 212 |
| May 2026 | 222 |
| Jun 2026 | 211 |
| Jul 2026 | 217 |
Airlines flying DTW–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 48 | 98% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 1.4 | 2% |
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 A321Neoxlr · 1,893 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 281 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 158 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 97 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 57 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 46 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 14 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 1 flight
Also carried: 35 tonnes of freight and 108 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 80.3%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 12 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1%
- Flights counted
- 2,580
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 80.3% | 12 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 80.3% | 9 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 38% · aircraft arriving late 29% · air traffic system 29% · 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
- $427
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $357
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 84% of passengers · $456
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 5% of passengers · $176
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $330 · Q3 2025 $308 · Q4 2025 $390 · Q1 2026 $427).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $436, likely $377–$497
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 6.6%). 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 7% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 6 (airline ticket sample, US domestic city pairs; each city here has this one airport). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,142 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.