Carrier performance at one airport
YX→JFK
Republic Airways at John F. Kennedy International
- Departures
- 15,252
- Period
- June 2025 to May 2026
- Routes
- 20
- Rank here
- #3 of 6
Republic Airways at New York carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 4.7% of scheduled flights never operate, against 1.8% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, close to three flights in four arrive on time, worth a B− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 15,252 flights, of which American Airlines flew 14,636 at 79.0% on time.
Measured against the airport rather than the country, Republic Airways runs 2 points ahead of the 75.1% weighted average across all carriers at JFK. That is the comparison worth making: every operator here works the same runways, the same airspace and the same weather.
Key figures
On time
77.2%
14,513 completed departures
Avg delay
72 min
Across delayed flights only
Cancelled
4.66%
At JFK, this carrier only
Rank here
#3
Of 6 carriers clearing the floor at JFK
These figures cover 15,000 flights between June 2025 and May 2026. Beyond the headline rate, 9.0% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule. That is the number that wrecks a connection, and it is not visible in an on-time percentage alone.
Against the competition
Every carrier at JFK, ranked
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 79.0% of the time; Frontier Airlines manages 68.2%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,796 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 14,636 | 79.0% | 95 min | 2.63% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 30,747 | 77.6% | 73 min | 2.55% | B |
| Republic Airways (this page) | 15,252 | 77.2% | 72 min | 4.66% | B− |
| JetBlue Airways | 35,277 | 71.8% | 73 min | 3.19% | C− |
| Alaska Airlines | 3,934 | 68.5% | 63 min | 2.77% | C |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,796 | 68.2% | 83 min | 2.29% | C |
Republic Airways cancels 4.7% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Where Republic Airways flies from JFK
Republic Airways operates 20 routes out of JFK with enough volume to report. Route records inside one carrier at one airport still spread widely, because a short shuttle and a transcontinental have very different exposure to a late inbound.
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JFK to BOS · Boston | 2,916 | 77.6% | 73 min | 4.63% | B− |
| JFK to DCA · Washington | 2,085 | 70.2% | 67 min | 5.66% | C− |
| JFK to CMH · Columbus | 1,666 | 77.7% | 72 min | 3.78% | B− |
| JFK to RDU · Raleigh | 1,464 | 77.2% | 62 min | 5.87% | B− |
| JFK to PIT · Pittsburgh | 1,310 | 77.5% | 78 min | 5.50% | B− |
| JFK to IND · Indianapolis | 1,000 | 73.9% | 88 min | 4.90% | C− |
| JFK to BNA · Nashville | 940 | 74.4% | 66 min | 4.15% | C− |
| JFK to ORF · Norfolk | 733 | 85.3% | 65 min | 4.23% | A− |
| JFK to ORD · Chicago | 720 | 74.6% | 84 min | 5.97% | C− |
| JFK to CVG · Cincinnati | 689 | 80.5% | 64 min | 2.90% | B |
| JFK to CLE · Cleveland | 562 | 79.7% | 62 min | 3.20% | B− |
| JFK to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 215 | 87.8% | 86 min | 0.93% | A+ |
| JFK to SAV · Savannahthin sample | 154 | 78.1% | 95 min | 1.95% | B |
| JFK to CHS · Charlestonthin sample | 151 | 80.3% | 64 min | 9.27% | B− |
| JFK to SYR · Syracusethin sample | 94 | 81.7% | 67 min | 1.06% | B |
| JFK to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 85 | 88.1% | 70 min | 1.18% | A |
| JFK to RIC · Richmondthin sample | 70 | 81.5% | 92 min | 7.14% | B− |
| JFK to PWM · Portlandthin sample | 62 | 92.9% | 125 min | 9.68% | A− |
| JFK to JAX · Jacksonvillethin sample | 45 | 91.1% | 74 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| JFK to MEM · Memphisthin sample | 30 | 82.8% | 35 min | 3.33% | B− |
Departure window
Best time of day for this operation
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am761 flights88.4%
- 8am–11am2,985 flights86.2%
- 11am–2pm2,974 flights83.3%
- 2pm–5pm3,956 flights72.0%
- 5pm–8pm2,393 flights69.2%
- 8pm–5am2,183 flights69.5%
Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 88.4% of the time, against 69.2% for the evening window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on.
Across the year
Seasonal pattern
December is the weak month at 69.2% on time, against 86.4% in August. Winter delays cluster: a single storm system can account for most of a month's shortfall, so an average December hides both very good weeks and genuinely unflyable days.
Delay causes
What holds this operation up
- 43%Late-arriving aircraft
- 33%National Airspace System
- 21%Carrier
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
43% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 237,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 16 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit.
Cancellations run at 4.66%, against 1.80% nationally. That is about one flight in twenty cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.0% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 8.2% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
15,252 flights sit behind these numbers, which is a large enough sample that the headline rate is not moving on noise. Where a sub-group falls below 30 flights the site shows a dash instead of a percentage.
Put together: the delay figures matter less here than the 4.66% cancellation rate. A late arrival costs you a little over an hour; a cancelled flight costs you the day. Book the 5am–8am departure so there is still a schedule behind you if it goes wrong, and treat a same-day connection as optimistic.
Common questions
Republic Airways at JFK
How often is Republic Airways at JFK delayed?
Roughly one flight in four arrive at least 15 minutes late, which is the Department of Transportation's definition of a delayed arrival. That works out to 22.8% of the 15,252 flights in this analysis, against 22.6% nationally. Delayed flights are late by a little over an hour on average.
Which airline is most reliable on Republic Airways at JFK?
American Airlines leads at 79.0% on time across 14,636 flights. Frontier Airlines is at the other end on 68.2%, a gap of 11 points. Sample size matters as much as the percentage: a rate built from a few hundred flights moves around far more than one built from ten thousand.
What time of day has the fewest delays on Republic Airways at JFK?
The 5am–8am departure window is the strongest at 88.4% on time. The 5pm–8pm window is the weakest at 69.2%, 19 points behind. Later departures inherit delays from earlier flights the same aircraft has already flown, which is why the curve slopes the way it does.
How bad are December delays on Republic Airways at JFK?
December is the weakest month at 69.2% on time, compared with 86.4% in August. Across the year that is 17 points between the best and worst months. Moving flexible dates out of that month is one of the few things that reliably helps.
Related
Where to go next
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, June 2025 to May 2026. Updated monthly. How this data is collected.