New York to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach

What the Data Says About JFK to PBI

The New York to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach corridor (JFK → PBI) covers roughly 1,028 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,761 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 70.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 79.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,311 flights were recorded on this pairing — 92 cancelled (2.1%) and 18 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 10,761 total flights analyzed, the 70.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 79.8-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 88% on-time, while Aug 2024 came in at 56% on-time — a 32-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the JFK to PBI route, the combination of a 70.7% on-time rate, 79.8-minute average delay, 2.1% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.