Is there a ground stop at DTW today?
No ground stop at DTW right now (as of 4:54 PM EST, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. In the last 12 months the FAA issued 22 ground stops and 5 ground delay programs for DTW, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 22 days.
Live FAA delay status for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (KDTW, Detroit, MI): ground stops, ground delay programs and delays right now, what the FAA has listed for DTW recently, and how often flights here actually run late.
No: the FAA is not reporting a ground stop at DTW right now.
FAA NAS Status lists no ground stop, ground delay program, or delay event for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County. Checked Nov 6, 2026 · 2154Z (4:54 PM EST); this page refreshes about every two minutes.
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Why DTW gets delayed
Detroit is a Delta hub the FAA rarely has to slow down: 28 programs in the 12 months to October 2026, on 23 days. Summer thunderstorms caused most of them, and the typical ground stop ran a little under 2 hours.
Winter is Detroit's real season. December was its worst month for on-time departures (67.9% in BTS data), snow and ice accounted for 11% of FAA programs, and two of the year's longest programs were for runway work in late December and March. Weather caused 10% of all DTW delay minutes, one of the highest weather shares among big hubs.
Written by the ATIS Alerts team from FAA Command Center advisories (October 2025 to October 2026), BTS airline on-time data (June 2025 to May 2026) and 20 years of hourly weather observations. Updated October 2026.
How long DTW delays usually last
Every FAA ground stop and ground delay program for DTW from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 5, 2026, rebuilt from the FAA Command Center's own advisories.
Ground delay programs
5Ground stops
22Flights to DTW were held by at least one FAA program on 22 days in the last year. 56% of the stops and programs began between 3 PM and 7 PM local time.
What triggered them
DTW ground stops and delay programs by month
| Month | Ground stops | Delay programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| January 2026 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| February 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| April 2026 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| June 2026 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| July 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| August 2026 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| September 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November 2026 to dateplus Nov 6-30, 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The busiest month was December, with 5 ground stops and delay programs combined.
Source: FAA ATCSCC advisory database (fly.faa.gov), every ground stop and ground delay program advisory the FAA Command Center issued for DTW, rebuilt daily by ATIS Alerts.
Best time of day to fly out of DTW
Airline departures scheduled before 9 AM left on time 88% of the time, against 69% for those scheduled 6 to 9 PM. By weekday, Wednesday was the most reliable (81%) and Sunday the least (75%). BTS on-time data, June 2025 to May 2026; on time = within 15 minutes.
Recent FAA events at DTW
Ground stops and delay programs the FAA has listed for DTW in the last 90 days, from ATIS Alerts' own log of FAA NAS Status.
- Departure DelaysSep 23, 2026 · 1915Z (3:15 PM EDT)lasted 35 min · tm initiatives:metering:vol · avg delay 60 min
- Departure DelaysSep 15, 2026 · 1325Z (9:25 AM EDT)lasted 12 min · rwy:construction · avg delay 23 min
- Arrival DelaysSep 4, 2026 · 1323Z (9:23 AM EDT)lasted 3h 58m · d21 / wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 83 min
- Ground StopSep 4, 2026 · 1312Z (9:12 AM EDT)lasted 2h 50m · thunderstorms
Durations are the time the FAA kept the event listed. Log complete from 2026-09-22; older rows are the last event of each type seen by the ATIS Alerts bot since 2026-07-22.
How often is DTW delayed?
Airline on-time performance at DTW, Jun 2025 to May 2026, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
123,576 scheduled airline arrivals and 123,589 departures in the period. Best month: Sep 2025 (88.4% on time); worst: Dec 2025 (68.4%). 24% of arrival delay minutes were charged to weather or the National Airspace System, the categories a ground stop or ground delay program falls under.
On-time arrivals by month
Bar = share of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule; largest month had 11,248 arrivals.
What caused the delays
- 47%Airline (crew, maintenance, ground handling)
- 29%Late-arriving aircraft
- 14%National Airspace System (ATC, volume, non-extreme weather)
- 10%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
Shares of delay minutes on arrivals 15+ minutes late, as reported by the carriers to the DOT.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline On-Time Performance (reporting carriers; regional, cargo, and general aviation flights are not included). Published about two months after each month ends.
Weather at KDTW right now
Weather drives most ground stops: thunderstorms, low ceilings, wind and snow.
SPECI KDTW 062149Z 30009KT 9SM SCT025 BKN042 OVC095 07/01 A2999 RMK AO2 RAB18E46 P0000 $
DTW ground stop FAQ
Is there a ground stop at DTW today?
No ground stop at DTW right now (as of 4:54 PM EST, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. This page rechecks the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes.
How do I know if DTW has a ground stop right now?
The banner at the top of this page reads the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes. A red banner means the FAA currently lists a ground stop for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County; green means it does not. The official source is nasstatus.faa.gov.
How many ground stops has DTW had in the last year?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 22 ground stops and 5 ground delay programs for DTW, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 22 days. Source: the FAA Command Center's advisory database (fly.faa.gov).
How long do ground stops at DTW last?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 22 ground stops for DTW. The typical one lasted 2 h 2 min, and the middle half ran 58 min to 3 h 26 min. Ground delay programs run longer: 5 of them, typically 2 h 49 min with an average delay of 70 minutes.
Does a ground stop mean my flight is cancelled?
No. It means departures to DTW are held, not cancelled. Airlines cancel on their own when the backlog cannot be recovered, so watch your carrier's updates alongside this page.
⚠️ Informational only. FAA NAS Status is the authoritative source for delay programs; your airline or dispatch governs your flight. ATIS Alerts is not affiliated with the FAA.