Live flights at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)

DTW KDTW  Detroit, United States

Save live traffic
… aircraft nearby

DTW at a glance

  • What it is: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is a major international airport serving Detroit, United States.
  • Codes: DTW on your ticket, KDTW on the radar.
  • How busy: the reference profile lists about 36.8 million annual passengers across 6 runways.
  • Main airline: Delta Air Lines bases aircraft here.
  • Right now: 33 aircraft are within 55 km, shown live on the map above.
  • Local time zone: America/New_York (UTC-4), so every time shown for DTW is local rather than UTC.

Aircraft observed near DTW

33 aircraft are within 55 km of DTW right now. This is live ADS-B traffic, not a published timetable: aircraft are classified by what they are physically doing - Climbing out, on approach, or holding at cruise overhead. For gate numbers and scheduled times, check with DTW directly or your airline.

Departing now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
DAL2631 Delta Air Lines route not published on stand or taxiing — 11 kts
DAL2439 Delta Air Lines route not published on stand or taxiing — 25 kts
EDV5392 — route not published climbing out 2,400 ft 170 kts
DAL361 Delta Air Lines DTW → SFO climbing out 2,425 ft 203 kts
DAL965 Delta Air Lines route not published climbing out 2,900 ft 231 kts
EDV5167 — route not published climbing out 5,750 ft 241 kts
DAL1581 Delta Air Lines LGA → FLL climbing out 8,575 ft 276 kts
EDV5259 — route not published climbing out 8,900 ft 274 kts

Arriving now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
NJM900 — route not published on approach 24,450 ft 459 kts
DAL1389 Delta Air Lines route not published on approach 1,150 ft 116 kts
DAL2183 Delta Air Lines route not published on approach 1,975 ft 137 kts
EDV5196 — route not published on approach 6,375 ft 286 kts
DAL2370 Delta Air Lines route not published on approach 5,175 ft 219 kts
JIA5660 — route not published on approach 10,675 ft 279 kts
DAL876 Delta Air Lines route not published on approach 3,800 ft 237 kts
SKW4313 — route not published on approach 3,600 ft 177 kts

Overhead and in the area

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
EDV4827 — route not published in the area 2,850 ft 169 kts
DAL158 Delta Air Lines route not published in the area 2,825 ft 156 kts
UAL1273 United Airlines route not published in the area 35,000 ft 489 kts
N5319D — route not published in the area 2,300 ft 70 kts
JBU619 JetBlue Airways route not published in the area 36,025 ft 406 kts
N4331Q — route not published in the area 1,925 ft 128 kts
CXK545 — route not published in the area 2,375 ft 70 kts
ASA262 Alaska Airlines route not published in the area 31,450 ft 447 kts
36.8M
Annual passengers (reference)
6
Runways
2
Terminals
645 ft
Field elevation

About DTW

Delta's main gateway between the US Midwest and Asia, centred on the 1.6-kilometre-long McNamara Terminal. The terminal's express tram and light tunnel are well known to connecting passengers. Six runways give it ample capacity in all weather.

Unusual aircraft we have tracked at DTW

Ranked by how rarely we identify the type anywhere, so the widebodies rise above the daily narrowbodies. Registrations are the individual airframes we logged, not a schedule.

AircraftTypeRegistrationOperator
Airbus A330-200 A332 N856NW Delta Air Lines
Bombardier CRJ900 CRJ9 N135EV Delta Connection
Airbus A330-300 A333 N815NW Delta Air Lines
Boeing 737-900ER B739 N825DN Delta Air Lines
Boeing 767-300ER B763 N105FE FedEx Express
Airbus A350-900 A359 N512DN Delta Air Lines

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport opened in 1930 as Wayne County Airport, one of the first airports in America funded by a county bond issue, on farmland southwest of Detroit near Romulus. It served military roles during the Second World War, then gradually captured Detroit's commercial traffic from Willow Run airport during the late 1950s after being renamed Detroit Metropolitan and gaining jet-era terminals in 1958 and 1966.

The pivotal era began when Republic Airlines. After their 1986 merger Northwest Airlines, made Detroit a primary hub, building it into the main gateway between the American Midwest and Asia, with nonstop flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Beijing. The airport's modern signature, the McNamara Terminal, opened in 2002 for Northwest: its Concourse A stretches nearly a mile, one of the longest airport concourses in the world, served by an overhead ExpressTram, a dancing-water fountain.

A psychedelic light tunnel connecting concourses beneath a taxiway. Delta inherited the hub in the 2008 merger and DTW remains one of its largest bases. The North Terminal, opened in 2008 and later renamed the Warren Cleage Evans Terminal, hosts all other carriers.

How DTW operates today

Detroit Metro operates six runways, including four parallel north-south strips that allow simultaneous streams in most weather, making it one of the more delay-resistant big hubs in the US. Delta Air Lines runs the McNamara Terminal (concourses A, B, and C) as a fortress hub and transatlantic-transpacific gateway, complete with the mile-long Concourse A, the ExpressTram.

The color-shifting light tunnel; all other airlines, led by Southwest and American, use the Evans Terminal. The airport is a legacy Asia gateway from Northwest days, retaining nonstops to Tokyo and Seoul. Its Midwest location makes it a reliable connecting alternative to Chicago.

Top routes from DTW

DestinationMain airlinesWhy it matters
Atlanta (ATL) Delta, Spirit The trunk between two of Delta's largest hubs.
Orlando (MCO) Delta, Spirit, Frontier Michigan's biggest leisure pipeline to Florida.
New York (LGA) Delta, Spirit A high-frequency business link between Detroit and Manhattan.
Amsterdam (AMS) Delta, KLM A legacy Northwest-KLM route that remains a joint-venture transatlantic pillar.
Tokyo (HND) Delta Continues Detroit's decades-old role as the Midwest's nonstop gateway to Japan.

Facts about DTW

  • Concourse A in the McNamara Terminal is nearly a mile long, one of the longest airport concourses in the world.
  • A psychedelic, music-synchronized light tunnel runs beneath an active taxiway between concourses.
  • Northwest Airlines built Detroit into the main US Midwest gateway to Japan and Asia, a role Delta maintains today.
  • The McNamara Terminal features a fountain whose choreographed water arcs were designed by the firm behind the Bellagio fountains.

Plane spotting at DTW

The parking decks and hotel windows near the McNamara Terminal give views of Delta's operation, and spotters use roads near the runway 21R/22L approaches in Romulus for arrivals shots. New to spotting? Start with our aircraft identification guide and the world's best spotting airports.

IATA / ICAO
DTW / KDTW
Location
Detroit, United States 42.216, -83.355
Time zone
America/New_York
Opened
1930
Hub for
Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines
Website
www.metroairport.com

Airlines hubbed at DTW

DL · DAL Delta Air Lines United States

Tracked flights using DTW

Selected scheduled services whose curated route starts, ends or stops at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
DL275 DTW → HND Airbus A350-900Track DL275 →
DL23 MUC → DTW Airbus A330-300Track DL23 →
DL2299 IAH → DTW Boeing 737-900ERTrack DL2299 →
DL2591 DTW → IND Airbus A321neoTrack DL2591 →

Nearby and related airports

Geographically close airports and useful alternatives in United States.

YYZ Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto, Canada
MDW Chicago Midway International Airport Chicago, United States
IND Indianapolis International Airport Indianapolis, United States
ORD O'Hare International Airport Chicago, United States
IAD Washington Dulles International Airport Washington, United States
BWI Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Baltimore, United States
EWR Newark Liberty International Airport Newark, United States
LGA LaGuardia Airport New York, United States

More airports and guides connected to DTW

Most of the tails you see here belong to Delta Air Lines. How a field like this runs day to day is covered in how airports work. Nearby, Chicago (MDW) serves the same country. The codes DTW and KDTW are explained in airport codes decoded.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

Passenger, runway, terminal and hub figures are maintained as a reviewed reference snapshot, not a live operational record. Check the airport directly before travelling.

Read our airport data sourcing and review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Frequently asked questions about DTW

What is the airport code for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport?

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport uses the IATA code DTW on tickets and baggage tags, and the ICAO code KDTW in flight plans and on radar. The leading “K” in KDTW is the region marker: ICAO codes are grouped geographically, which is why airports near each other usually share their first letter or two while their IATA codes look unrelated.

How many runways does DTW have?

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport operates 6 runways across 2 passenger terminals. The field sits at 645 ft above sea level.

How busy is DTW?

This reference profile lists roughly 36.8 million annual passengers for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. You can see aircraft observed departing, arriving and overhead on this page, taken from live ADS-B broadcasts.

Which airlines are based at DTW?

Delta Air Lines treat DTW as a hub or major base. Many other carriers serve the airport without basing aircraft there.

How many terminals does DTW have?

This reference lists Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport with 2 passenger terminals. Check the airport or operating airline for the terminal assigned to a specific flight.

What time zone is DTW in?

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport runs on America/New_York, currently UTC-4. Flight trackers work in UTC internally, so the seven-day history on our flight pages is stamped UTC while the boards on this page are in DTW local time - worth remembering when the two disagree by a whole calendar day.

Can I track flights at DTW live?

Yes. The map on this page shows every aircraft broadcasting its position within about 55 km of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and there are 33 in range as this page loaded. The boards split them into departures, arrivals and traffic passing overhead, all timed in America/New_York.