Flights New York → Los Angeles
JFK → LAX
Route overview
This flight route connects New York to Los Angeles, operating with a mix of aircraft including the Boeing 767-200, Airbus A321, and Airbus A320. With an 85% on-time performance rate and an average delay of 9.8 minutes, the service is generally reliable, serving one of the busiest airports in the world with over 76 million passengers annually at its destination.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The New York (JFK) → Los Angeles (LAX) route is operated by American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines. Across 3177 flights monitored in recent months, 86% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 9 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.08%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 23.1/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from New York the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Los Angeles: what to expect in this direction
Flying from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) heads west for about 3,974 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 23m.
Departures from New York on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 37% of JFK-LAX flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing New York the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Los Angeles it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 3,177 tracked JFK-LAX flights, 86% left on time with an average delay of 9 min and a 2.1% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 80% | 8 min | 1.8% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
| JetBlue Airways (B6) | 72% | 14 min | 1.7% |
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 67% | 10 min | 11.9% |
Airlines operating JFK-LAX
Airports
Frequently asked questions about JFK-LAX
On the New York (JFK) -> Los Angeles (LAX) route, on-time performance is 86% with an average delay of 9 minutes, based on 3177 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on New York-Los Angeles is 2.08% across 3177 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 5 airlines: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Los Angeles, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
