San Francisco to New York

What the Data Says About SFO to JFK

The San Francisco to New York corridor (SFO → JFK) covers roughly 2,586 miles and is served by 20 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 35,481 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 13,161 flights were recorded on this pairing — 140 cancelled (1.1%) and 67 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 20 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 35,481 total flights analyzed, the 83.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.7-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, Jan 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 71% on-time — a 18-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SFO to JFK route, the combination of a 83.2% on-time rate, 80.7-minute average delay, 1.1% recent cancellation rate, and 20 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.