New York (JFK) – Los Angeles (LAX)
- Distance
- 3,983 km
- 2,475 mi · 2,151 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 7 min / 5 h 18 min
- Average gate to gate: JFK → LAX / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 465 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (275 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 3,020,062
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +5.4%
- Flights / week
- 385
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 88%
- 3,449,097 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- DL, B6, AA
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 JFK
- 274°
- Heading from LAX
- 66°
- Halfway point
- 39.47, -97.14
- Great-circle km
- 3,974 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air JFK → LAX
- 5 h 28 min
- In the air LAX → JFK
- 4 h 49 min
- Clocks
- Los Angeles is 3 h behind New York
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 30 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 260,080 |
| Sep 2025 | 243,865 |
| Oct 2025 | 260,055 |
| Nov 2025 | 247,208 |
| Dec 2025 | 259,800 |
| Jan 2026 | 231,390 |
| Feb 2026 | 192,106 |
| Mar 2026 | 258,685 |
| Apr 2026 | 263,145 |
| May 2026 | 273,837 |
| Jun 2026 | 271,676 |
| Jul 2026 | 258,215 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,816 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,704 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,776 |
| Nov 2025 | 1,690 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,744 |
| Jan 2026 | 1,563 |
| Feb 2026 | 1,335 |
| Mar 2026 | 1,682 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,699 |
| May 2026 | 1,724 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,621 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,662 |
Airlines flying JFK–LAX nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 126 | 44% |
| B6JetBlue Airways | 130 | 31% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 122 | 23% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 6.5 | 2% |
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 · 9,997 flights
- Boeing 767-300/300ER · 3,661 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 2,783 flights
- Boeing 767-400/ER · 1,491 flights
- Airbus Industrie A330-200 · 540 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 537 flights
- Airbus Industrie A330-300/333 · 436 flights
- Airbus Industrie A330-900 · 360 flights
Also carried: 29,543 tonnes of freight and 1,836 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 78.1%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 19 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.5%
- Flights counted
- 20,565
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| B6JetBlue Airways | 77.2% | 17 min |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 79.2% | 17 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 78.1% | 24 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 75.1% | 19 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 39% · aircraft arriving late 35% · air traffic system 23% · 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
- $508
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $505
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 43% of passengers · $609
- Lowest-fare airline
- JetBlue Airways
- 30% of passengers · $358
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $499 · Q3 2025 $476 · Q4 2025 $535 · Q1 2026 $508).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $518, likely $459–$590
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 95% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 4.6%). 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: 3,974 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
More routes from JFK
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| JFK → LHR | 5,555 km | 2,984,474 |
| JFK → SFO | 4,162 km | 1,910,892 |
| JFK → CDG | 5,850 km | 1,852,909 |
| JFK → MCO | 1,519 km | 1,430,021 |
| JFK → MIA | 1,753 km | 1,326,964 |
| JFK → ATL | 1,223 km | 1,253,545 |
| JFK → SJU | 2,571 km | 1,142,506 |
| JFK → FCO | 6,884 km | 1,141,515 |
| JFK → LAS | 3,618 km | 1,102,051 |
| JFK → FLL | 1,720 km | 1,077,715 |