Route profile
RSW→JFK
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Myers to New York, 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 8% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,057 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
RSW → JFK arrives on time 75.7% of the time; the return trip, JFK → RSW, arrives on time 76.7% of the time.
RSW → JFK spends 26.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,074-mile trip: 15.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at RSW and 10.6 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 has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 95% of 5,368 comparable routes.
77.5% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 77.8% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where RSW to JFK differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
RSW to JFK struggles most at 2 PM: 53.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 19.2 points behind the 73.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 20.8 points.
RSW to JFK is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 70.6% arrive on time, 4.7 points ahead of the 65.9% those routes manage at that hour.
Monday is the day RSW to JFK slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.0% on time where they average 75.8%, 3.8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 5.3 points.
In March, RSW to JFK runs 8.3 points below routes of similar length, 66.9% on time to 75.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 11 points.
JetBlue does better on RSW to JFK than on its routes of similar length: 73.1% on time here, 70.2% there, 2.9 points apart.
RSW to JFK against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 53.8% | routes of similar length | 73.0% | −19.2 pts | 186 here, 178,485 there |
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 70.6% | routes of similar length | 65.9% | +4.7 pts | 659 here, 182,548 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 72.0% | routes of similar length | 75.8% | −3.8 pts | 560 here, 426,049 there |
| Month: March | 66.9% | routes of similar length | 75.2% | −8.3 pts | 420 here, 254,697 there |
| Airline: JetBlue | 73.1% | routes of similar length | 70.2% | +2.9 pts | 2,494 here, 159,296 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 RSW → JFK flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
RSW → JFK cancelled 136 of 4,057 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 30. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 39.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 77 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 136 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, 39.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
48 cancellations, 35.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
35 cancellations, 25.7% 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.
136 coded cancellations were recorded on RSW → JFK; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
64 min late
against a median of 7 min early
RSW → JFK has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 71 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 4,057 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at JFK after arriving from RSW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | 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 3.35% of the time and diverts 0.35% 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 64 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,057 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
RSW → JFK flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.7% of the time, against 61.3% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 29.4 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 91.3% on time from 516 flights
- 7 AM: 88.7% on time from 232 flights
- 8 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 76.4% on time from 308 flights
- 11 AM: 82.7% on time from 919 flights
- 12 PM: 75.7% on time from 320 flights
- 1 PM: 57.8% on time from 160 flights
- 2 PM: 53.8% on time from 201 flights
- 3 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 59.4% on time from 130 flights
- 6 PM: 66.5% on time from 234 flights
- 7 PM: 70.6% on time from 679 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why RSW → 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 RSW → JFK. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on RSW → JFK, at 46.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.7% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 61.3%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue | 2,599 | 73.1% | 3.77% | -5 min | 12.1% |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,458 | 80.3% | 2.61% | -11 min | 8.6% |
JetBlue flew 64.1% of the 4,057 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 3.77% of its flights here against 2.61% for Delta Air Lines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 7.2 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.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| B61530 JetBlue | 6:00 AM | 974 | 81.8% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 81.0%
- Feb: 75.6%
- Mar: 66.9%
- Apr: 81.0%
- May: 78.9%
- Jun: 76.1%
- Jul: 67.0%
- Aug: 71.4%
- Sep: 81.1%
- Oct: 76.9%
- Nov: 81.6%
- Dec: 73.4%
March is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 14.7 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 (92)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (106)
- December 2023: 78.9% from 125 flights
- January 2024: 81.0% from 122 flights
- February 2024: 79.1% from 131 flights
- March 2024: 62.1% from 156 flights
- April 2024: 75.4% from 128 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 (106)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (105)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (102)
- December 2024: 64.9% from 132 flights
- January 2025: 85.6% from 134 flights
- February 2025: 76.9% from 138 flights
- March 2025: 70.7% from 150 flights
- April 2025: 85.8% from 134 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 (92)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- January 2026: 76.0% from 128 flights
- February 2026: 70.7% from 135 flights
- March 2026: 68.3% from 125 flights
- April 2026: 81.5% from 127 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (92)
- 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 77.5% against 77.8% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,057 RSW → 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