John F. Kennedy International in May 2026

83.0%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In May 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 8,535 domestic departures from John F. Kennedy International (JFK). 83.0% left less than 15 minutes late and 81.0% reached their destination on time; 1.1% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 77.1% of flights departed on time and 77.6% arrived on time, so JFK departures were 5.9 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in May 2025, the airport had 9,021 departures with 79.1% leaving on time: a change of +3.9 points, with flights down 5%.

Flights arriving at JFK that month were on time 82.5% of the time (8,536 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 33%, air carrier 32% and national aviation system 29%.

On time 81.0%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 17.7%
Cancelled 1.1%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from JFK in May 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

May 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	May 2026	May 2025	JFK, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, May 2026
Departed on time	83.0%	79.1%	75.5%	77.1%
Arrived on time	81.0%	74.4%	72.8%	77.6%
Cancelled	1.1%	0.5%	3.5%	0.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	13.2 min	15.8 min	18.2 min	16.0 min
Scheduled departures a day	285	301	281	20,391
Scheduled departures	8,535	9,021	102,683	611,735

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
B6 JetBlue Airways	2,860	34%	82.1%	-2.1 min	0.5%
DL Delta Air Lines	2,719	32%	79.3%	1.4 min	1.5%
AA American Airlines	1,381	16%	80.9%	7.2 min	1.0%
YX Republic Airline	1,193	14%	82.2%	-0.5 min	1.7%
AS Alaska Airlines	351	4%	81.2%	1.9 min	0.6%
F9 Frontier Airlines	31	0%	77.4%	-4.0 min	3.2%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
JFK–LAX	New York to Los Angeles	868	79.4%	6.0 min	0.9%
JFK–SFO	New York to San Francisco	593	68.6%	12.9 min	0.5%
JFK–BOS	New York to Boston	437	81.5%	-1.7 min	1.8%
JFK–MIA	New York to Miami	400	83.3%	1.0 min	1.3%
JFK–MCO	New York to Orlando	395	84.6%	-3.8 min	0.5%
JFK–LAS	New York to Las Vegas	329	78.4%	2.9 min	1.8%
JFK–ATL	New York to Atlanta	322	81.7%	-1.4 min	0.6%
JFK–FLL	New York to Fort Lauderdale	303	84.5%	-4.1 min	1.0%
JFK–PHX	New York to Phoenix	269	79.6%	4.2 min	1.5%
JFK–SEA	New York to Seattle	263	78.3%	5.3 min	2.3%
JFK–SJU	New York to San Juan	254	81.9%	-4.5 min	0.4%
JFK–AUS	New York to Austin	208	79.3%	-1.1 min	1.4%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), May 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, May 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	31.5%	33.0%	34,483
Late-arriving aircraft	32.5%	40.4%	35,601
National Aviation System	29.1%	20.5%	31,833
Extreme weather	6.8%	6.0%	7,399
Security	0.2%	0.1%	170

109,486 delay minutes on 1,509 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left JFK on time in May 2026?

83.0% of 8,535 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 81.0% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 77.1% and 77.6%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In May 2025, 79.1% of 9,021 departures left on time and 0.5% were cancelled, against 83.0% and 1.1% in May 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for May 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for JFK · methodology · corrections.