- Great circle
- 3,887 km
- 2,415 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 5h 20m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 47.8°N
- at 82% along
- One lap of Earth
- 9.7%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 151st longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From New York the path crosses the United States, then Canada, then the United States.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 47.8°N, 82% of the way along.
Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 3,946 km. That is 59 km further, about 2% more, and roughly 4m of extra flying.
Leaving New York the aircraft points north-west (298°); it arrives into Seattle heading west (263°). That is 35° 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
SEA
Seattle–Tacoma
Seattle, United States · North America
47.4°N, 122.3°W
New York to Seattle, asked and answered
- How far is New York to Seattle?
- New York to Seattle (JFK to SEA) is 3,887 km, or 2,415 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from New York to Seattle?
- About 5h 20m 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 Seattle flight take?
- The great circle passes over the United States, then Canada, then the United States. It reaches 47.8°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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