Airport month record
JFKFEB
John F. Kennedy International in February 2026
- Departures
- 7,458
- Month
- February 2026
- National, same month
- 80.2%
- Carriers
- 6
Historical statistics for February 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s February. For today’s conditions at JFK, see live FAA status.
JFK in February carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 8.8% of scheduled flights never operate, against 2.3% 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 7,458 flights, of which Republic Airways flew 1,152 at 78.6% on time.
Republic Airways is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 78.6% on time across 1,152 flights.
Key figures
On time
75.2%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 6,787 completed departures
Avg delay
74 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
8.76%
Nationally in February: 2.25%
Whole year
75.7%
JFK across all twelve months
These figures cover 7,458 departures from John F. Kennedy International in February 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
February next to JFK's other months
Against JFK's own year, February ran level with the twelve-month rate of 75.7%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where February stands out: 8.76% of scheduled departures were called off, 2.9 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, January ran 73.6% on time and March 76.4%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 9,262 | 67.8% | 91 min | 6.23% | C− |
| August 2025 | 9,110 | 79.0% | 75 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 8,567 | 81.8% | 74 min | 0.74% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 8,928 | 74.2% | 69 min | 1.46% | C |
| November 2025 | 8,626 | 75.8% | 72 min | 2.83% | B |
| December 2025 | 8,856 | 65.6% | 76 min | 4.02% | C− |
| January 2026 | 8,022 | 73.6% | 69 min | 7.12% | C− |
| February 2026 (this page) | 7,458 | 75.2% | 74 min | 8.76% | B− |
| March 2026 | 8,392 | 76.4% | 75 min | 2.10% | B |
| April 2026 | 8,254 | 81.6% | 59 min | 0.24% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 8,535 | 82.1% | 73 min | 1.08% | B |
| June 2026 | 8,750 | 75.0% | 78 min | 2.02% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave JFK in February
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 15 points, against 8 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,099 flights81.2%
- 8am–11am1,458 flights74.1%
- 11am–2pm1,158 flights79.5%
- 2pm–5pm1,371 flights74.8%
- 5pm–8pm1,383 flights74.6%
- 8pm–5am989 flights66.3%
Scale runs 60% to 85%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 81.2% of the time, against 66.3% for the overnight window. That is 15 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,458 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 79.8% on time and Sunday the weakest at 69.5%. 10 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at JFK in February
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Republic Airways arrives on time 78.6% of the time; JetBlue Airways manages 70.5%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,586 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue Airways | 2,586 | 70.5% | 71 min | 9.47% | C− |
| Delta Air Lines | 2,188 | 77.4% | 65 min | 7.95% | B− |
| Republic Airways | 1,152 | 78.6% | 61 min | 9.55% | B− |
| American Airlines | 1,113 | 78.2% | 101 min | 8.27% | B− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 264 | 75.6% | 66 min | 9.47% | B− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 155 | 74.3% | 166 min | 4.52% | C− |
Republic Airways cancels 9.6% 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
Busiest routes out of JFK in February
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JFK to LAX · Los Angeles | 725 | 74.8% | 83 min | 7.86% | C− |
| JFK to SFO · San Francisco | 465 | 77.7% | 71 min | 8.17% | B− |
| JFK to BOS · Boston | 462 | 72.7% | 78 min | 8.66% | C− |
| JFK to MCO · Orlando | 374 | 70.6% | 70 min | 7.75% | C− |
| JFK to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 347 | 72.2% | 55 min | 9.80% | C− |
| JFK to MIA · Miamithin sample | 339 | 76.6% | 76 min | 6.78% | B− |
| JFK to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 307 | 82.0% | 95 min | 7.49% | B− |
| JFK to SJU · San Juanthin sample | 294 | 68.0% | 95 min | 8.50% | C− |
| JFK to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 249 | 80.4% | 64 min | 9.64% | B− |
| JFK to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 248 | 79.9% | 59 min | 7.66% | B− |
| JFK to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample | 202 | 69.9% | 59 min | 8.42% | C− |
| JFK to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 185 | 74.7% | 70 min | 12.43% | C− |
| JFK to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 180 | 73.8% | 61 min | 8.89% | C− |
| JFK to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 174 | 78.8% | 79 min | 7.47% | B− |
| JFK to TPA · Tampathin sample | 174 | 81.5% | 77 min | 9.20% | B− |
| JFK to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 168 | 52.6% | 62 min | 8.33% | F− |
| JFK to AUS · Austinthin sample | 160 | 83.1% | 89 min | 7.50% | B− |
| JFK to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 154 | 81.8% | 59 min | 9.74% | B− |
| JFK to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 137 | 77.7% | 146 min | 11.68% | B− |
| JFK to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 137 | 72.8% | 69 min | 8.76% | C− |
| JFK to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 131 | 73.1% | 74 min | 9.16% | C− |
| JFK to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 115 | 78.8% | 56 min | 8.70% | B− |
| JFK to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 112 | 85.0% | 71 min | 8.93% | A− |
| JFK to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 110 | 85.0% | 68 min | 9.09% | A− |
| JFK to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 107 | 74.0% | 48 min | 10.28% | C− |
Delay causes
What held JFK up in February
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 125,000 reported delay minutes.
- 42%Late-arriving aircraft
- 33%Carrier
- 21%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
42% 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 125,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 10 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. The split is drawn from 124,563 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 8.76%, against 2.25% nationally. That is about one flight in twelve 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. 9.5% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 6.5% 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.
What to do with this
Flying from JFK in February
For a February trip through JFK: expect 75.2% on time and 8.76% cancelled, going by February 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- John F. Kennedy International (JFK), the whole year
- JFK in July67.8%
- JFK in August79.0%
- JFK in September81.8%
- JFK in October74.2%
- JFK in November75.8%
- JFK in December65.6%
- JFK in January73.6%
- JFK in March76.4%
- JFK in April81.6%
- JFK in May82.1%
- JFK in June75.0%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.