Route profile
JFK→RSW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New York to Fort Myers, 1,074 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 17% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,063 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
JFK → RSW arrives on time 76.7% of the time; the return trip, RSW → JFK, arrives on time 75.7% of the time.
JFK → RSW spends 31.3 minutes on the ground on a 1,074-mile trip: 25.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at JFK and 5.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at RSW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 97% of 4,023 comparable routes.
87.3% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 52.4% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where JFK to RSW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
JFK to RSW struggles most at 10 AM: 65.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 15.9 points behind the 81.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.1 points.
June is kinder to JFK to RSW than to routes of similar length: 83.5% on time against 71.5%, 12 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 10.8 points.
In December, JFK to RSW runs 8.9 points below routes of similar length, 68.3% on time to 77.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.5 points.
Delta Air Lines does better on JFK to RSW than on its routes of similar length: 87.0% on time here, 80.6% there, 6.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 5.5 points.
JFK to RSW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 AM departures | 65.6% | routes of similar length | 81.5% | −15.9 pts | 160 here, 157,123 there |
| Month: June | 83.5% | routes of similar length | 71.5% | +12.0 pts | 260 here, 231,089 there |
| Month: December | 68.3% | routes of similar length | 77.2% | −8.9 pts | 357 here, 243,498 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 87.0% | routes of similar length | 80.6% | +6.4 pts | 1,418 here, 461,754 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 1,074 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.
Why JFK → RSW flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
JFK → RSW cancelled 132 of 4,063 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 31. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 40.2% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 77 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 132 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
53 cancellations, 40.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
45 cancellations, 34.1% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
34 cancellations, 25.8% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
132 coded cancellations were recorded on JFK → RSW; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
51 min late
against a median of 8 min early
Percentiles over 4,063 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at RSW after arriving from JFK.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.6% | 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 3.25% of the time and diverts 0.59% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,907 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 51 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,063 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
JFK → RSW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.3% of the time, against 52.4% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 34.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 89.5% on time from 424 flights
- 7 AM: 88.7% on time from 1,176 flights
- 8 AM: 79.7% on time from 343 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 65.6% on time from 170 flights
- 11 AM to 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 70.7% on time from 191 flights
- 2 PM: 64.2% on time from 403 flights
- 3 PM: 73.2% on time from 350 flights
- 4 PM: 56.2% on time from 181 flights
- 5 PM to 7 PM: too few flights to score
- 8 PM: 66.1% on time from 230 flights
- 9 PM: 52.4% on time from 181 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why JFK → RSW 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 → RSW. 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 | 2,605 | 70.8% | 3.65% | -4 min | 11.4% |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,458 | 87.0% | 2.54% | -13 min | 4.4% |
JetBlue flew 64.1% of the 4,063 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 3.65% of its flights here against 2.54% for Delta Air Lines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 16.2 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL2320 (7:00 AM) arrived on time 88.9% of the time, 20.9 points more often than B62129 (4:59 PM) at 68.0%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 76.2%
- Feb: 75.6%
- Mar: 73.7%
- Apr: 81.1%
- May: 82.8%
- Jun: 83.5%
- Jul: 66.7%
- Aug: 69.3%
- Sep: 88.3%
- Oct: 78.8%
- Nov: 81.6%
- Dec: 68.3%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 21.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (80)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (94)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (106)
- December 2023: 73.0% from 123 flights
- January 2024: 70.0% from 123 flights
- February 2024: 79.8% from 132 flights
- March 2024: 63.4% from 156 flights
- April 2024: 80.8% from 127 flights
- May 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (106)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (102)
- December 2024: 65.1% from 133 flights
- January 2025: 80.9% from 133 flights
- February 2025: 74.1% from 140 flights
- March 2025: 81.0% from 150 flights
- April 2025: 82.7% from 133 flights
- May 2025: too few flights to score (99)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (94)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- January 2026: 77.1% from 127 flights
- February 2026: 72.8% from 137 flights
- March 2026: 78.2% from 126 flights
- April 2026: 79.5% from 126 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (91)
- 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 78.4% against 77.2% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,063 JFK → RSW 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