Pittsburgh to New York

What the Data Says About PIT to JFK

The Pittsburgh to New York corridor (PIT → JFK) covers roughly 340 miles and is served by 14 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 8,686 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,579 flights were recorded on this pairing — 70 cancelled (2.0%) and 5 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 14 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 8,686 total flights analyzed, the 87.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.2-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 97% on-time, while Dec 2024 came in at 74% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PIT to JFK route, the combination of a 87.3% on-time rate, 80.2-minute average delay, 2.0% recent cancellation rate, and 14 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.