Route profile
IAH→JFK
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Houston to New York, 1,417 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 0% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 1,124 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
IAH → JFK arrives on time 65.1% of the time; the return trip, JFK → IAH, arrives on time 71.9% of the time, a 6.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair. IAH → JFK also cancels 3.65% of flights, against 2.40% for JFK → IAH.
IAH → JFK spends 28.4 minutes on the ground on a 1,417-mile trip: 18.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at IAH and 10.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at JFK.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 99% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 2 min late, but the worst tenth run 91 minutes worse than that.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where IAH to JFK differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
IAH to JFK struggles most at 11 AM: 59.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 18.8 points behind the 78.7% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 21.1 points.
Thursday is the day IAH to JFK slips furthest against routes of similar length, 57.3% on time where they average 76.7%, 19.4 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 19.5 points.
JetBlue’s flights on IAH to JFK arrive on time 60.8% of the time, 8.9 points below the 69.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 11.4 points.
IAH to JFK against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 59.9% | routes of similar length | 78.7% | −18.8 pts | 137 here, 93,529 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 57.3% | routes of similar length | 76.7% | −19.4 pts | 157 here, 242,920 there |
| Airline: JetBlue | 60.8% | routes of similar length | 69.7% | −8.9 pts | 817 here, 60,999 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 1,417 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
93 min late
against a median of 2 min late
IAH → JFK has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 2 min late, but the worst tenth are 91 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 1,124 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at JFK after arriving from IAH.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 53% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 34% | Likely to miss |
| 60 min | 24% | High risk |
| 90 min | 15% | High risk |
| 120 min | 11% | 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 3.65% of the time and diverts 0.89% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 1,073 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 93 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 1,124 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
IAH → JFK flights departing 12–3 PM arrived on time 72.1% of the time, against 55.8% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 16.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 59.9% on time from 146 flights
- 12 PM: 72.0% on time from 449 flights
- 1 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 62.7% on time from 133 flights
- 6 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why IAH → JFK runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for IAH → 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue | 855 | 60.8% | 3.51% | 5 min | 18.4% |
| Delta Air Lines | 269 | 78.9% | 4.09% | -7 min | 7.0% |
JetBlue flew 76.1% of the 1,124 flights listed.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 18.1 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Other ways to fly Houston to New York
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAH→LGA Houston to New York | 12,397 | 75.4% | 2.25% | -6 min | 50 |
| IAH→JFK this route Houston to New York | 1,124 | 65.1% | 3.65% | 2 min | 21 |
IAH → LGA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 75.4% on time, against 65.1% for IAH → JFK.
Flying to JFK from the Houston area? Compare IAH, HOU for JFK, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 16.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-06 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 66.7% against 71.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 5.1 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,124 IAH → 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