Route profile
CLE→JFK
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Cleveland to New York, 425 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 29% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,888 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
CLE → JFK arrives on time 83.9% of the time; the return trip, JFK → CLE, arrives on time 84.4% of the time.
CLE → JFK spends 29.3 minutes on the ground on a 425-mile trip: 17.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CLE and 12.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at JFK.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where CLE to JFK differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CLE to JFK is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 4 PM: 81.4% arrive on time, 10.1 points ahead of the 71.3% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.7 points.
CLE to JFK struggles most at 6 AM: 88.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 4.4 points behind the 92.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 2.8 points.
CLE to JFK holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 86.1% on time to their 77.6%, a 8.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 8.9 points.
October is kinder to CLE to JFK than to routes of similar length: 92.9% on time against 82.3%, 10.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 9.9 points.
CLE to JFK against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 81.4% | routes of similar length | 71.3% | +10.1 pts | 285 here, 90,830 there |
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 88.0% | routes of similar length | 92.4% | −4.4 pts | 565 here, 114,309 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 86.1% | routes of similar length | 77.6% | +8.5 pts | 524 here, 245,116 there |
| Month: October | 92.9% | routes of similar length | 82.3% | +10.6 pts | 379 here, 141,795 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 425 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
CLE to JFK in context
This route against CLE and JFK as a whole, against similar routes from CLE, and against its own first year, July 2023 – July 2026.
Leaving CLE, CLE to JFK is on time 83.9% of the time, 3.1 points better than the airport’s other departures at CLE (80.8%, from 120,423 flights).
Arriving at JFK, CLE to JFK is on time 83.9% of the time, 6.2 points better than the airport’s other arrivals at JFK (77.7%, from 337,472 flights).
CLE to JFK cancels 3.76% of its scheduled flights, 1.02 points above the 2.74% on 7 other routes from CLE of similar length (within 15% of 425 miles).
Of the 3,463 flights scheduled in hours with at least 120 flights, 10 AM is the busiest hour with 662 (19.1%), 91.2% of them on time, and 3 PM the quietest with 245 (7.1%), 78.7% of them on time.
Airport comparisons take this route’s flights out of the airport total. Length means within 15% of this route’s distance, with at least 3 other routes from the same origin. On-time gaps are stated at 2 points and 2 standard errors, cancellation gaps at 0.5 points and 2 standard errors, and every group needs 750 flights. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why CLE → JFK flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CLE → JFK cancelled 146 of 3,888 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 27. The reason filed most often was the air traffic system, 55.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 48 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 146 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
81 cancellations, 55.5% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
55 cancellations, 37.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
10 cancellations, 6.8% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
146 coded cancellations were recorded on CLE → JFK; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
39 min late
against a median of 13 min early
Percentiles over 3,888 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at JFK after arriving from CLE.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 26% | High risk |
| 45 min | 16% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.5% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.3% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 3.76% of the time and diverts 0.08% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,739 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 39 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,888 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CLE → JFK flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 89.8% of the time, against 76.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 12.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 88.0% on time from 580 flights
- 7 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 91.2% on time from 662 flights
- 11 AM: 87.4% on time from 622 flights
- 12 PM to 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 78.7% on time from 245 flights
- 4 PM: 81.4% on time from 302 flights
- 5 PM: 74.2% on time from 515 flights
- 6 PM: 76.2% on time from 537 flights
- 7 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why CLE → JFK runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for CLE → JFK. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 2,360 | 83.3% | 3.98% | -12 min | 7.7% |
| Endeavor Air | 970 | 82.1% | 3.81% | -13 min | 8.2% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 435 | 88.5% | 1.84% | -13 min | 6.8% |
Republic Airways flew 62.7% of the 3,765 flights listed. Republic Airways cancelled 3.98% of its flights here against 1.84% for SkyWest Airlines.
SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 6.4 percentage points more often than Endeavor Air on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 84.8%
- Feb: 89.6%
- Mar: 83.5%
- Apr: 90.3%
- May: 83.2%
- Jun: 74.2%
- Jul: 75.1%
- Aug: 82.7%
- Sep: 87.3%
- Oct: 92.9%
- Nov: 90.4%
- Dec: 75.1%
June is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 18.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 76.6% from 163 flights
- August 2023: 82.8% from 174 flights
- September 2023: 81.9% from 184 flights
- October 2023: 88.3% from 162 flights
- November 2023: 85.4% from 151 flights
- December 2023: 83.8% from 131 flights
- January 2024: 85.6% from 133 flights
- February 2024: 90.8% from 143 flights
- March 2024: 85.8% from 155 flights
- April 2024: 90.3% from 146 flights
- May 2024: 82.4% from 155 flights
- June 2024: 71.7% from 154 flights
- July 2024: 74.3% from 159 flights
- August 2024: 81.5% from 160 flights
- September 2024: 92.0% from 150 flights
- October 2024: 99.4% from 157 flights
- November 2024: 95.3% from 149 flights
- December 2024: 72.0% from 134 flights
- January 2025: too few flights to score (66)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (58)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (67)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (64)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (67)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (64)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (66)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (68)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (60)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (61)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (35)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (41)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (36)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (28)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (32)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (60)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (72)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (93)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 83.1% against 85.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,888 CLE → JFK flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed