New York (EWR) – Los Angeles (LAX)
- Distance
- 3,950 km
- 2,454 mi · 2,133 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 58 min / 5 h 8 min
- Average gate to gate: EWR → LAX / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 461 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (273 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,791,699
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −5.5%
- Flights / week
- 182
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 89%
- 2,013,745 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- UA, AS, B6
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 EWR
- 274°
- Heading from LAX
- 66°
- Halfway point
- 39.45, -97.33
- Great-circle km
- 3,941 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air EWR → LAX
- 5 h 19 min
- In the air LAX → EWR
- 4 h 38 min
- Clocks
- Los Angeles is 3 h behind New York
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 177,377 |
| Sep 2025 | 158,137 |
| Oct 2025 | 170,090 |
| Nov 2025 | 157,313 |
| Dec 2025 | 170,775 |
| Jan 2026 | 130,012 |
| Feb 2026 | 109,736 |
| Mar 2026 | 147,323 |
| Apr 2026 | 135,601 |
| May 2026 | 133,466 |
| Jun 2026 | 147,400 |
| Jul 2026 | 154,469 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 941 |
| Sep 2025 | 918 |
| Oct 2025 | 956 |
| Nov 2025 | 923 |
| Dec 2025 | 934 |
| Jan 2026 | 631 |
| Feb 2026 | 548 |
| Mar 2026 | 721 |
| Apr 2026 | 704 |
| May 2026 | 677 |
| Jun 2026 | 754 |
| Jul 2026 | 759 |
Airlines flying EWR–LAX nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 133 | 78% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 20 | 9% |
| B6JetBlue Airways | 19 | 7% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 10 | 5% |
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
- Boeing 757-200 · 3,876 flights
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner · 1,131 flights
- B787-900 Dreamliner · 1,088 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 975 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 639 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 461 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 452 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 286 flights
Also carried: 25,474 tonnes of freight and 547 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 75.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 20 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.1%
- Flights counted
- 9,688
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 75.5% | 20 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 82% | 12 min |
| B6JetBlue Airways | 75.5% | 20 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 70.7% | 23 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 35% · aircraft arriving late 34% · air traffic system 28% · weather 2% · 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
- $406
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $374
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 77% of passengers · $462
- Lowest-fare airline
- Spirit Air Lines
- 11% of passengers · $139
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $361 · Q3 2025 $339 · Q4 2025 $395 · Q1 2026 $406).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $414, likely $367–$472
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 86% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 6.4%). 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 3% 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: 3,941 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.
Every airport pair between New York and Los Angeles
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All New York airports