Route profile
JFK→BOS
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New York to Boston, 187 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 7% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 17,279 flights. How this is calculated
JFK → BOS arrives on time 74.8% of the time; the return trip, BOS → JFK, arrives on time 77.0% of the time, a 2.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
JFK → BOS spends 35.8 minutes on the ground on a 187-mile trip: 26.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at JFK and 9.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at BOS.
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 95% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 8 min early, but the worst tenth run 77 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.
Why JFK → BOS flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
JFK → BOS cancelled 575 of 17,279 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 30. The reason filed most often was the air traffic system, 55.3% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 54 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 575 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.
318 cancellations, 55.3% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
191 cancellations, 33.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
66 cancellations, 11.5% 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.
575 coded cancellations were recorded on JFK → BOS; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
69 min late
against a median of 8 min early
JFK → BOS has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 8 min early, but the worst tenth are 77 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 17,279 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BOS after arriving from JFK.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.1% | 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 3.33% of the time and diverts 0.06% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 16,693 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 69 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 17,279 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
JFK → BOS flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.4% of the time, against 62.5% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 25.9 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (JFK).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 9.8 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.5 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | |||||||
| 7 AM–8 AM | |||||||
| 8 AM–9 AM | |||||||
| 9 AM–10 AM | |||||||
| 10 AM–11 AM | |||||||
| 11 AM–12 PM | |||||||
| 12 PM–1 PM | |||||||
| 1 PM–2 PM | |||||||
| 2 PM–3 PM | |||||||
| 3 PM–4 PM | |||||||
| 4 PM–5 PM | |||||||
| 5 PM–6 PM | |||||||
| 6 PM–7 PM | |||||||
| 7 PM–8 PM | |||||||
| 8 PM–9 PM | |||||||
| 9 PM–10 PM | |||||||
| 10 PM–11 PM |
On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 50–59
- 60–69
- 70–79
- 80–89
- 90–99
- Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.
No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM and after 11 PM (216 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 87.0% on time270 flights | 91.2% on time270 flights | 88.6% on time276 flights | 89.5% on time269 flights | 89.5% on time268 flights | 89.4% on time223 flights | 86.2% on time278 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 39 flights, too few to score | 42 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 39 flights, too few to score | 40 flights, too few to score | 76 flights, too few to score | 42 flights, too few to score |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 87.9% on time142 flights | 91.2% on time138 flights | 85.2% on time128 flights | 89.1% on time148 flights | 88.1% on time143 flights | 85.1% on time148 flights | 79.1% on time132 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 83.0% on time232 flights | 89.4% on time229 flights | 90.9% on time231 flights | 87.5% on time241 flights | 88.3% on time231 flights | 84.5% on time210 flights | 87.0% on time246 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 83 flights, too few to score | 77 flights, too few to score | 84 flights, too few to score | 72 flights, too few to score | 81 flights, too few to score | 72 flights, too few to score | 60 flights, too few to score |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 47 flights, too few to score | 57 flights, too few to score | 53 flights, too few to score | 47 flights, too few to score | 48 flights, too few to score | 52 flights, too few to score | 66 flights, too few to score |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 78 flights, too few to score | 82 flights, too few to score | 91 flights, too few to score | 82 flights, too few to score | 84 flights, too few to score | 111 flights, too few to score | 82 flights, too few to score |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 66.0% on time164 flights | 72.0% on time159 flights | 75.3% on time150 flights | 70.8% on time162 flights | 68.1% on time167 flights | 65.9% on time132 flights | 58.8% on time160 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 69.2% on time194 flights | 69.9% on time198 flights | 75.5% on time188 flights | 66.0% on time193 flights | 67.0% on time190 flights | 74.9% on time179 flights | 63.5% on time192 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 75.0% on time128 flights | 75.8% on time130 flights | 63.0% on time121 flights | 68.5% on time133 flights | 65.8% on time120 flights | 68.1% on time148 flights | 117 flights, too few to score |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 91 flights, too few to score | 93 flights, too few to score | 96 flights, too few to score | 97 flights, too few to score | 100 flights, too few to score | 86 flights, too few to score | 98 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 64.7% on time235 flights | 69.2% on time239 flights | 67.2% on time247 flights | 57.8% on time234 flights | 65.9% on time231 flights | 72.2% on time237 flights | 62.0% on time238 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 77 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score | 75 flights, too few to score | 77 flights, too few to score | 77 flights, too few to score | 85 flights, too few to score | 76 flights, too few to score |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 43 flights, too few to score | 54 flights, too few to score | 41 flights, too few to score | 56 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 54 flights, too few to score | 50 flights, too few to score |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 100 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score | 74.6% on time123 flights | 99 flights, too few to score | 99 flights, too few to score | 97 flights, too few to score | 102 flights, too few to score |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 71.2% on time295 flights | 78.7% on time281 flights | 73.1% on time273 flights | 63.6% on time289 flights | 73.3% on time279 flights | 70.9% on time302 flights | 64.1% on time285 flights |
| 10 PM–11 PM | 71.1% on time212 flights | 72.2% on time212 flights | 72.8% on time211 flights | 64.7% on time207 flights | 69.8% on time206 flights | 68.6% on time238 flights | 67.9% on time213 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 88.8% on time from 1,854 flights
- 7 AM: 90.4% on time from 327 flights
- 8 AM: 86.6% on time from 979 flights
- 9 AM: 87.3% on time from 1,620 flights
- 10 AM: 82.4% on time from 529 flights
- 11 AM: 79.7% on time from 370 flights
- 12 PM: 82.9% on time from 610 flights
- 1 PM: 68.2% on time from 1,094 flights
- 2 PM: 69.4% on time from 1,334 flights
- 3 PM: 69.3% on time from 897 flights
- 4 PM: 64.1% on time from 661 flights
- 5 PM: 65.6% on time from 1,661 flights
- 6 PM: 56.6% on time from 545 flights
- 7 PM: 55.7% on time from 347 flights
- 8 PM: 70.0% on time from 732 flights
- 9 PM: 70.7% on time from 2,004 flights
- 10 PM: 69.6% on time from 1,499 flights
- 11 PM: 76.9% on time from 187 flights
Why JFK → BOS runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
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 JFK → BOS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on JFK → BOS, at 36.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.4% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 62.5%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of JFK to BOS: 3.5 times the normal rate at JFK and 3.9 times at BOS. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: JFK 6.0% against 1.7%, BOS 5.3% against 1.4%. Flights that did leave JFK in bad weather arrived on time 64.1% of the time, against 79.7% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | JFK | BOS |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 6.0% | 5.3% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 1.7% | 1.4% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 64.1% | 65.1% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 79.7% | 79.7% |
| Departures in bad weather | 46,497 | 60,840 |
Of the carriers on this route, Delta Air Lines (4.0% cancelled against 6.9% for the other carriers at JFK) cancelled the fewest departures from JFK in bad weather and Republic Airways (9.6% cancelled against 5.3% for the other carriers at JFK) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at JFK
All departures from JFK| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 12,657 | 4.0%below the others | 6.9% |
| JetBlue | 14,948 | 6.2%about level | 6.2% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 692 | 8.1%above the others | 4.6% |
| Republic Airways | 6,590 | 9.6%above the others | 5.3% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from JFK and BOS, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from JFK on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: JFK (airlines), BOS, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.
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 | 8,160 | 80.4% | 3.70% | -10 min | 8.6% |
| JetBlue | 7,618 | 69.2% | 3.18% | -4 min | 14.2% |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,243 | 72.4% | 1.53% | -8 min | 13.7% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 253 | 72.9% | 4.74% | -7 min | 15.4% |
Republic Airways flew 47.2% of the 17,274 flights listed. SkyWest Airlines cancelled 4.74% of its flights here against 1.53% for Delta Air Lines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 11.2 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Other ways to fly New York to Boston
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
LGA → BOS is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 78.7% on time, against 74.3% for EWR → BOS.
Flying to BOS from the New York area? Compare JFK, LGA, EWR for BOS, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
YX5765 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 91.3% of the time, 30.5 points more often than B61118 (10:59 PM) at 60.8%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.9%
- Feb: 79.3%
- Mar: 75.6%
- Apr: 80.5%
- May: 75.7%
- Jun: 72.3%
- Jul: 64.0%
- Aug: 70.5%
- Sep: 71.4%
- Oct: 79.6%
- Nov: 82.7%
- Dec: 72.6%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 18.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 62.4% from 499 flights
- August 2023: 66.7% from 486 flights
- September 2023: 69.5% from 485 flights
- October 2023: 80.4% from 502 flights
- November 2023: 84.2% from 502 flights
- December 2023: 80.1% from 473 flights
- January 2024: 68.7% from 481 flights
- February 2024: 85.7% from 471 flights
- March 2024: 79.2% from 448 flights
- April 2024: 76.0% from 456 flights
- May 2024: 78.3% from 494 flights
- June 2024: 73.4% from 466 flights
- July 2024: 62.5% from 460 flights
- August 2024: 62.7% from 463 flights
- September 2024: 78.5% from 507 flights
- October 2024: 89.8% from 523 flights
- November 2024: 87.9% from 420 flights
- December 2024: 70.5% from 404 flights
- January 2025: 82.6% from 427 flights
- February 2025: 78.9% from 405 flights
- March 2025: 77.1% from 421 flights
- April 2025: 85.6% from 411 flights
- May 2025: 66.0% from 459 flights
- June 2025: 68.3% from 445 flights
- July 2025: 69.4% from 495 flights
- August 2025: 80.8% from 500 flights
- September 2025: 66.2% from 547 flights
- October 2025: 68.8% from 556 flights
- November 2025: 75.8% from 450 flights
- December 2025: 66.3% from 432 flights
- January 2026: 77.1% from 481 flights
- February 2026: 72.7% from 462 flights
- March 2026: 71.2% from 513 flights
- April 2026: 80.4% from 443 flights
- May 2026: 83.0% from 437 flights
- June 2026: 75.3% from 428 flights
- July 2026: 61.1% from 427 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.1% against 76.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 17,279 JFK → BOS 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