Dipteran insects (flies) possess mechanosensory organs called halteres. Halteres are used during flight to take in information about how their body is rotating. Although research has shown that halteres are essential for steady flight, very little is known about their role in takeoff behavior. However, it has been documented that some groups of flies oscillate their halteres during pre-flight behavior (walking). Most notably, the Calyptratae, a large and diverse clade including some very successful flies like blowflies and houseflies, all move their halteres when they walk. This suggests that these flies may use the sensory information generated by the halteres in behaviors other than free-flight. In this research, our goal was to determine how halteres impact takeoff in various species and whether haltere use may help explain differences in takeoff behaviors between those species. To accomplish this, we recorded spontaneous and escape takeoffs in several species of wild-caught and lab-reared flies. After filming the behavior of intact animals, we gently removed the halteres, allowed the flies to recover, and stimulated them to perform escape takeoffs. We found that intact flies of the Calyptratae clade performed takeoffs that were significantly faster than most other fly groups, and that removing the halteres made their takeoffs slower. Removing the halteres of flies outside the Calyptratae clade had no effect on the speed of the takeoff. Taken together, our results suggest that the Calyptratae flies have expanded the use of their halteres to enhance takeoff as well as to stabilize flight.