New York, NY

What the Data Says About JFK

New York, NY in New York, New York handled 1,274,816 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 79.4% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 263,153 experienced delays, 16,932 were cancelled, and 1,569 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.33%, the diversion rate to 0.12%, and the average delay when departures run late is 82.5 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing JFK against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at JFK, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 43.4% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 28.3% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 24.4%. Weather contributes 3.6% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.2%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, November runs the cleanest at JFK with a 92.3% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 85.8% — a 7-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in March, when average flights hit 19,285. The busiest route from JFK is to LAX (Los Angeles), with 53,628 flights at a 81.3% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 79.4% on-time, 82.5-minute average delay, 1.33% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at New York, NY.