Route profile
ORD→JFK
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to New York, 740 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 5% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,265 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
ORD → JFK arrives on time 73.5% of the time; the return trip, JFK → ORD, arrives on time 76.3% of the time, a 2.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
ORD → JFK spends 34.9 minutes on the ground on a 740-mile trip: 24.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 10.9 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 92% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth run 73 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 ORD to JFK differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ORD to JFK struggles most at 12 PM: 69.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 10.5 points behind the 80.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.5 points.
Wednesday is the day ORD to JFK slips furthest against routes of similar length, 74.5% on time where they average 80.7%, 6.2 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.3 points.
In January, ORD to JFK runs 10.6 points below routes of similar length, 68.8% on time to 79.4%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.3 points.
American Airlines’ flights on ORD to JFK arrive on time 65.9% of the time, 8.2 points below the 74.1% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 9.2 points.
JetBlue does better on ORD to JFK than on its routes of similar length: 76.0% on time here, 72.1% there, 3.9 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3.8 points.
ORD to JFK against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 12 PM departures | 69.9% | routes of similar length | 80.4% | −10.5 pts | 269 here, 115,674 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 74.5% | routes of similar length | 80.7% | −6.2 pts | 1,004 here, 283,317 there |
| Month: January | 68.8% | routes of similar length | 79.4% | −10.6 pts | 504 here, 146,697 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 65.9% | routes of similar length | 74.1% | −8.2 pts | 2,025 here, 313,274 there |
| Airline: JetBlue | 76.0% | routes of similar length | 72.1% | +3.9 pts | 1,627 here, 47,496 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 740 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 ORD → JFK flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ORD → JFK cancelled 224 of 7,265 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 32. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 56.3% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 58 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 224 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.
126 cancellations, 56.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
66 cancellations, 29.5% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
32 cancellations, 14.3% 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.
224 coded cancellations were recorded on ORD → JFK; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
68 min late
against a median of 5 min early
ORD → JFK has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 73 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 7,265 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at JFK after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.6% | 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 3.08% of the time and diverts 0.29% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,020 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 68 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,265 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → JFK flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 85.0% of the time, against 60.3% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 24.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 86.6% on time from 495 flights
- 7 AM: 85.8% on time from 961 flights
- 8 AM: 79.2% on time from 259 flights
- 9 AM: 79.6% on time from 381 flights
- 10 AM: 76.7% on time from 849 flights
- 11 AM: 73.6% on time from 1,136 flights
- 12 PM: 69.9% on time from 284 flights
- 1 PM: 77.1% on time from 318 flights
- 2 PM: 75.3% on time from 430 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 59.7% on time from 714 flights
- 5 PM: 65.3% on time from 369 flights
- 6 PM: 60.1% on time from 958 flights
- 7 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ORD → JFK runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
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 ORD → JFK. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → JFK, at 33.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 85.0% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 60.3%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 2,093 | 65.9% | 2.82% | 0 min | 14.1% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,710 | 77.7% | 3.33% | -4 min | 9.9% |
| JetBlue | 1,694 | 76.0% | 3.72% | -8 min | 11.1% |
| Republic Airways | 1,574 | 77.0% | 2.41% | -7 min | 8.9% |
American Airlines flew 29.6% of the 7,071 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 3.72% of its flights here against 2.41% for Republic Airways.
SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 11.8 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Chicago to New York
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
Flying to JFK from the Chicago area? Compare ORD, MDW for JFK, 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.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| B6906 JetBlue | 10:45 AM | 751 | 76.3% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 68.8%
- Feb: 78.8%
- Mar: 71.1%
- Apr: 76.8%
- May: 75.6%
- Jun: 66.7%
- Jul: 64.4%
- Aug: 70.3%
- Sep: 75.3%
- Oct: 82.5%
- Nov: 81.0%
- Dec: 71.1%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 18.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 57.1% from 217 flights
- August 2023: 78.0% from 217 flights
- September 2023: 66.0% from 225 flights
- October 2023: 80.7% from 249 flights
- November 2023: 83.1% from 236 flights
- December 2023: 78.9% from 219 flights
- January 2024: 64.2% from 210 flights
- February 2024: 85.1% from 203 flights
- March 2024: 74.5% from 217 flights
- April 2024: 72.6% from 210 flights
- May 2024: 68.6% from 248 flights
- June 2024: 55.7% from 237 flights
- July 2024: 63.6% from 244 flights
- August 2024: 58.0% from 243 flights
- September 2024: 80.1% from 267 flights
- October 2024: 88.8% from 277 flights
- November 2024: 86.8% from 212 flights
- December 2024: 71.5% from 201 flights
- January 2025: 73.5% from 172 flights
- February 2025: 77.5% from 156 flights
- March 2025: 69.7% from 133 flights
- April 2025: 81.4% from 130 flights
- May 2025: 73.1% from 159 flights
- June 2025: 72.5% from 154 flights
- July 2025: 67.6% from 156 flights
- August 2025: 77.6% from 155 flights
- September 2025: 79.0% from 167 flights
- October 2025: 75.1% from 184 flights
- November 2025: 71.0% from 176 flights
- December 2025: 61.5% from 193 flights
- January 2026: 69.5% from 150 flights
- February 2026: 69.5% from 130 flights
- March 2026: 67.8% from 183 flights
- April 2026: 78.8% from 139 flights
- May 2026: 87.4% from 177 flights
- June 2026: 74.9% from 202 flights
- July 2026: 70.9% from 217 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.4% against 75.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,265 ORD → 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