Route profile
JFK→HNL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New York to Honolulu, 4,983 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 41% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 2,108 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
JFK → HNL arrives on time 74.0% of the time; the return trip, HNL → JFK, arrives on time 79.4% of the time, a 5.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
JFK → HNL spends 36.5 minutes on the ground on a 4,983-mile trip: 25.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at JFK and 10.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at HNL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 97% of 3,357 comparable routes.
86.5% on time in a typical September, against 58.9% in February.
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 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where JFK to HNL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
JFK to HNL struggles most at 8 AM: 63.4% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 16.4 points behind the 79.8% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 22.5 points.
Sunday is the day JFK to HNL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 67.2% on time where they average 80.6%, 13.4 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.
In February, JFK to HNL runs 21.4 points below routes of similar length, 58.9% on time to 80.3%. Against all other routes the gap is 22.6 points.
JFK to HNL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 63.4% | routes of similar length | 79.8% | −16.4 pts | 303 here, 430 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 67.2% | routes of similar length | 80.6% | −13.4 pts | 311 here, 1,439 there |
| Month: February | 58.9% | routes of similar length | 80.3% | −21.4 pts | 151 here, 838 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 4,983 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
42 min late
against a median of 3 min early
Percentiles over 2,108 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HNL after arriving from JFK.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 44% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.3% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.1% | Low 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 1.14% of the time and diverts 0.24% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 2,079 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 42 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 2,108 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Why JFK → HNL 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
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for JFK → HNL. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 974 | 81.7% | 0.72% | -10 min | 4.9% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 920 | 68.8% | 0.76% | 2 min | 7.0% |
| Alaska Airlines | 214 | 60.8% | 4.67% | 6 min | 12.7% |
Delta Air Lines flew 46.2% of the 2,108 flights listed. Alaska Airlines cancelled 4.67% of its flights here against 0.72% for Delta Air Lines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 20.9 percentage points more often than Alaska Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 13.8 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 71.6%
- Feb: 58.9%
- Mar: 74.4%
- Apr: 73.3%
- May: 82.3%
- Jun: 78.5%
- Jul: 74.6%
- Aug: 72.6%
- Sep: 86.5%
- Oct: 71.7%
- Nov: 73.4%
- Dec: 68.4%
February is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 27.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.9% against 75.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 2,108 JFK → HNL 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