According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), New York, NY (JFK) ranks #20 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). New York, NY posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
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JFK on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Carrier.
Total delay minutes: 9,959,972.
Late Aircraft28.3% (2,821,712 min)
Carrier43.4% (4,320,973 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)24.4% (2,433,353 min)
Weather3.6% (361,097 min)
Security0.2% (22,837 min)
JFK - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: November (92.3%) · worst: July (85.8%)
JFK - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
JFK - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 27.5 min · taxi-in 11.4 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
JFK's average taxi-out (27.5 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is June 2025 at 34.3 min; the lightest is February 2024 at 22.7 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for New York, NY, both outside New York so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at New York, NY is traffic scale: 1,274,816 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #20 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 79.4% on-time rate (0.4 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average), 263,153 delayed departures, and 16,932 cancellations (1.33% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (28.3% late-aircraft, 43.4% carrier, 24.4% NAS, 3.6% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, JFK is strongest in November (92.3% on-time) and weakest in July (85.8%), a 6.5-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~19,285 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to LAX (Los Angeles) at 81.3% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
New York, NY vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
79.4%Top 86%higher than 14% of 382 airports
New York, NY
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
JFK's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from JFK before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. June 2025 averaged 34.3 min. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is New York, NY's on-time rate?
New York, NY (JFK) has a 79.4% on-time rate across 1,274,816 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 0.4 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does JFK rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
New York, NY ranks #20 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at New York, NY?
Carrier is the leading delay cause at JFK, accounting for 43.4% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 28.3% late-aircraft, 43.4% carrier, 24.4% NAS/air-traffic-control, 3.6% weather, and 0.2% security.
When is the best time to fly through New York, NY?
November is historically JFK's strongest month at 92.3% on-time, while July is the weakest at 85.8%, a 6.5-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights