Boston (BOS) – Los Angeles (LAX)
- Distance
- 4,202 km
- 2,611 mi · 2,269 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 20 min / 5 h 26 min
- Average gate to gate: BOS → LAX / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 491 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (290 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,267,422
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −1.7%
- Flights / week
- 180
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 90%
- 1,415,431 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- B6, DL, UA
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from BOS
- 273°
- Heading from LAX
- 63°
- Halfway point
- 40.63, -96.16
- Great-circle km
- 4,193 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air BOS → LAX
- 5 h 47 min
- In the air LAX → BOS
- 4 h 58 min
- Clocks
- Los Angeles is 3 h behind Boston
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 45 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 120,489 |
| Sep 2025 | 100,562 |
| Oct 2025 | 110,230 |
| Nov 2025 | 97,090 |
| Dec 2025 | 101,243 |
| Jan 2026 | 88,938 |
| Feb 2026 | 79,659 |
| Mar 2026 | 101,510 |
| Apr 2026 | 99,386 |
| May 2026 | 110,634 |
| Jun 2026 | 120,620 |
| Jul 2026 | 137,061 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 865 |
| Sep 2025 | 728 |
| Oct 2025 | 797 |
| Nov 2025 | 740 |
| Dec 2025 | 752 |
| Jan 2026 | 704 |
| Feb 2026 | 637 |
| Mar 2026 | 774 |
| Apr 2026 | 725 |
| May 2026 | 798 |
| Jun 2026 | 899 |
| Jul 2026 | 943 |
Airlines flying BOS–LAX nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| B6JetBlue Airways | 61 | 36% |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 47 | 28% |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 27 | 18% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 45 | 17% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 5,082 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 2,869 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 903 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 439 flights
- Boeing 767-300/300ER · 29 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 23 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 8 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 5 flights
Also carried: 2,083 tonnes of freight and 551 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 76.3%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 20 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.7%
- Flights counted
- 9,519
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| B6JetBlue Airways | 74.8% | 19 min |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 76.7% | 20 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 74.5% | 25 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 81.7% | 13 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 34% · aircraft arriving late 39% · air traffic system 24% · weather 3% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $346
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $363
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- JetBlue Airways
- 31% of passengers · $303
- Lowest-fare airline
- United Air Lines
- 19% of passengers · $292
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $363 · Q3 2025 $362 · Q4 2025 $376 · Q1 2026 $346).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $353, likely $313–$402
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 90% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 7.1%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q1, typically 7% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 4,193 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.