- Great circle
- 3,974 km
- 2,469 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 5h 26m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 40.8°N
- at 13% along
- One lap of Earth
- 9.9%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 149th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From New York the path crosses the United States.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 40.8°N, 13% of the way along.
Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 4,013 km. That is 39 km further, about 1% more, and roughly 3m of extra flying.
Leaving New York the aircraft points west (274°); it arrives into Los Angeles heading south-west (246°). That is 28° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.
JFK
John F. Kennedy
New York, United States · North America
40.6°N, 73.8°W
LAX
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, United States · North America
33.9°N, 118.4°W
New York to Los Angeles, asked and answered
- How far is New York to Los Angeles?
- New York to Los Angeles (JFK to LAX) is 3,974 km, or 2,469 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from New York to Los Angeles?
- About 5h 26m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.
- What route does a New York to Los Angeles flight take?
- The great circle passes over the United States. It reaches 40.8°N at its furthest from the equator.
Where these numbers come from
Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.
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