New York (JFK) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 3,936 km
- 2,446 mi · 2,125 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 3 min / 5 h 21 min
- Average gate to gate: JFK → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 460 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (272 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 709,493
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −2.4%
- Flights / week
- 90
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 85%
- 832,576 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 3
- DL, B6, AS
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
- 271°
- Heading from SAN
- 64°
- Halfway point
- 38.73, -96.65
- Great-circle km
- 3,928 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air JFK → SAN
- 5 h 26 min
- In the air SAN → JFK
- 4 h 48 min
- Clocks
- San Diego 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 | 64,080 |
| Sep 2025 | 56,992 |
| Oct 2025 | 61,652 |
| Nov 2025 | 60,328 |
| Dec 2025 | 63,129 |
| Jan 2026 | 49,140 |
| Feb 2026 | 41,606 |
| Mar 2026 | 59,932 |
| Apr 2026 | 61,914 |
| May 2026 | 60,854 |
| Jun 2026 | 66,130 |
| Jul 2026 | 63,736 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 419 |
| Sep 2025 | 398 |
| Oct 2025 | 417 |
| Nov 2025 | 406 |
| Dec 2025 | 404 |
| Jan 2026 | 331 |
| Feb 2026 | 276 |
| Mar 2026 | 393 |
| Apr 2026 | 408 |
| May 2026 | 410 |
| Jun 2026 | 406 |
| Jul 2026 | 389 |
Airlines flying JFK–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 38 | 47% |
| B6JetBlue Airways | 27 | 26% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 24 | 26% |
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 A321-200n · 2,312 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 970 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 527 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 515 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 186 flights
- Boeing 767-300/300ER · 61 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 44 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 24 flights
Also carried: 219 tonnes of freight and 72 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 81.4%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 15 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.7%
- Flights counted
- 4,830
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 80.3% | 16 min |
| B6JetBlue Airways | 84.1% | 14 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 80% | 13 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 40% · aircraft arriving late 20% · air traffic system 33% · weather 7% · 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
- $323
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $332
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 50% of passengers · $366
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 22% of passengers · $269
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $334 · Q3 2025 $323 · Q4 2025 $346 · Q1 2026 $323).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $329, likely $292–$375
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 4.5%). 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 6% 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: 3,928 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 San Diego
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All New York airports
More routes from JFK
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| JFK → LAX | 3,983 km | 3,020,062 |
| 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 |