It's always a bit of a relief when you hear that familiar rumble of the engines and know your flight is finally underway. For Delta flight 5345, that moment arrived on January 1st, 2026, at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The scheduled departure was for 3:55 PM EST, and it actually pulled away from the gate just a minute later, at 3:56 PM EST. That's a pretty minimal delay, barely enough time to finish that last sip of coffee.
The aircraft itself, a Canadair (Bombardier) Regional Jet 900 and Challenger 890, designated as CR9, was set to cover the distance to Des Moines International Airport in Iowa. The flight plan anticipated a journey of about 1 hour and 57 minutes.
As the flight progressed, the data shows a few adjustments to the estimated arrival times, which is quite common in air travel. These are often minor tweaks as the plane navigates air traffic or weather patterns. The flight runway times indicate it was scheduled to leave the runway at 4:11 PM EST and actually did so at 4:14 PM EST, a small three-minute difference. This flight was operated by Endeavor Air on behalf of Delta Air Lines, and it's interesting to note it was also marketed under other airline codes, like Air France 3080, Korean Air 3409, KLM 5236, and WestJet 7253.
Landing in Des Moines, the actual arrival time was 4:45 PM CST, a little earlier than the scheduled 4:52 PM CST. This meant the flight actually arrived ahead of schedule, which is always a pleasant surprise for passengers. The flight runway times at Des Moines show an actual runway arrival of 4:41 PM CST, also ahead of its scheduled 4:46 PM CST. The tail number for this particular journey was N331PQ.
Looking at the event timeline, we can see the flight status evolve. It moved from 'scheduled' to 'active' and eventually 'landed'. There were several 'time adjustments' noted throughout the day, particularly concerning gate and runway times, both for departure and arrival. For instance, there was an adjustment to the estimated runway departure from 4:19 PM to 4:14 PM EST, and similarly, estimated runway arrivals saw changes. It's a dynamic process, this air traffic control and flight management. The data also shows a change in the departure gate at Detroit from B16 to A55 earlier in the day, and a change in tail number from N678CA to N331PQ on December 30th, indicating this aircraft has a history of service on various routes.
Ultimately, Delta flight 5345 completed its journey smoothly, arriving a bit earlier than planned in Des Moines. It’s a good reminder that while schedules are important, the actual experience of air travel can often be a little more fluid than we might expect.
