Airport month record
JFKMAY
John F. Kennedy International in May 2026
- Departures
- 8,535
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 6
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at JFK, see live FAA status.
JFK in May lands a B, 4 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 8,535 flights, of which Republic Airways flew 1,193 at 83.6% on time.
Republic Airways is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 83.6% on time across 1,193 flights.
Key figures
On time
82.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,419 completed departures
Avg delay
73 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.08%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
75.7%
JFK across all twelve months
These figures cover 8,535 departures from John F. Kennedy International in May 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
May next to JFK's other months
Against JFK's own year, May ran 6 points better than the twelve-month rate of 75.7%, which makes it the best of the twelve months in the data. Cancellations were unusually low for JFK in May, at 1.08% against 3.06% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 81.6% on time and June 75.0%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.
| 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 | 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 (this page) | 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 May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 16 points, against 3 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,314 flights89.4%
- 8am–11am1,687 flights88.8%
- 11am–2pm1,307 flights85.9%
- 2pm–5pm1,425 flights79.3%
- 5pm–8pm1,576 flights74.4%
- 8pm–5am1,226 flights73.8%
Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.4% of the time, against 73.8% for the overnight window. That is 16 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 1,687 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 87.4% on time and Wednesday the weakest at 73.5%. 14 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at JFK in May
The four carriers here are closely matched: 3 points separate the best from the worst. At that spread, schedule and price are better tie-breakers than reliability. Sample sizes are shown so you can see which rows are worth weighing.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue Airways | 2,860 | 82.7% | 61 min | 0.45% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 2,719 | 80.7% | 62 min | 1.54% | B |
| American Airlines | 1,381 | 82.2% | 117 min | 1.01% | B |
| Republic Airways | 1,193 | 83.6% | 79 min | 1.68% | B |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 351 | 81.7% | 67 min | 0.57% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 80.0% | 40 min | 3.23% | B− |
No carrier stands out. Republic tops the table at 83.6%, 3 points clear of the bottom, which is inside the range this kind of sample moves year to year.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of JFK in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JFK to LAX · Los Angeles | 868 | 80.3% | 94 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| JFK to SFO · San Francisco | 593 | 69.2% | 64 min | 0.51% | C+ |
| JFK to BOS · Boston | 437 | 83.0% | 66 min | 1.83% | B |
| JFK to MIA · Miami | 400 | 84.7% | 106 min | 1.25% | B |
| JFK to MCO · Orlando | 395 | 85.2% | 63 min | 0.51% | A+ |
| JFK to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 329 | 80.4% | 70 min | 1.82% | B |
| JFK to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 322 | 82.7% | 60 min | 0.62% | B+ |
| JFK to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 303 | 85.9% | 57 min | 0.99% | A+ |
| JFK to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 269 | 80.8% | 78 min | 1.49% | B |
| JFK to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 263 | 80.2% | 71 min | 2.28% | B |
| JFK to SJU · San Juanthin sample | 254 | 82.2% | 47 min | 0.39% | B+ |
| JFK to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 208 | 85.4% | 50 min | 0.96% | A+ |
| JFK to AUS · Austinthin sample | 208 | 81.7% | 57 min | 1.44% | B |
| JFK to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 205 | 68.8% | 65 min | 2.93% | C |
| JFK to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 182 | 74.3% | 82 min | 1.10% | C |
| JFK to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 180 | 87.7% | 117 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| JFK to TPA · Tampathin sample | 180 | 88.1% | 52 min | 1.11% | A |
| JFK to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 177 | 80.1% | 82 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| JFK to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 164 | 86.0% | 94 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| JFK to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample | 161 | 89.9% | 76 min | 1.24% | A |
| JFK to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 155 | 83.2% | 83 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| JFK to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 149 | 84.8% | 80 min | 2.68% | B |
| JFK to DEN · Denverthin sample | 124 | 79.3% | 51 min | 1.61% | B |
| JFK to JAX · Jacksonvillethin sample | 120 | 86.6% | 89 min | 0.83% | A+ |
| JFK to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 111 | 82.0% | 90 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held JFK up in May
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 109,000 reported delay minutes.
- 33%Late-arriving aircraft
- 32%Carrier
- 29%National Airspace System
- 7%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The practical consequence: the 5am–8am departure is the one that starts clean. Its aircraft has no earlier leg to be late from, which is exactly why that window shows 89.4% on time here. The split is drawn from 109,486 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.08% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.28%.
6.5% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from JFK in May
For a May trip through JFK: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 82.1% on time with 1.08% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular 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 February75.2%
- JFK in March76.4%
- JFK in April81.6%
- 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.