New York to Boston

What the Data Says About JFK to BOS

The New York to Boston corridor (JFK → BOS) covers roughly 187 miles and is served by 22 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 30,732 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 11,141 flights were recorded on this pairing — 288 cancelled (2.6%) and 5 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 22 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 30,732 total flights analyzed, the 77.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.5-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 63% on-time — a 27-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the JFK to BOS route, the combination of a 77.6% on-time rate, 80.5-minute average delay, 2.6% recent cancellation rate, and 22 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.