New York to Los Angeles

Between New York and Los Angeles, 5.2 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 34 thousand flights of about 2,465 miles and 5.1 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 406 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 209 kg on Frontier Airlines to 622 kg on American Airlines.

Between New York and Los Angeles, one passenger accounts for 209 kg of CO2 on Frontier and 622 kg on American. That's three times as much over the same 2,465 miles, with both airlines flying about 86% full.

The aircraft are close relatives, so it isn't the engines. American's flights burned about a third more fuel (5,952 gallons against 4,433) but carried less than half as many people: 93 passengers a flight against 207 on Frontier. Nearly all of American's flights here are the A321, and they average 107 seats. Of its A321s, 16 have only 102 seats, where most of the rest have 190. On this route, the airline you pick moves your share of the fuel more than anything else does.

406 kgCO2 per passenger, average
2,465 milesabout 5.1 hours in the air
5.2 millionpassengers in 2025
86%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.

New York to Los Angeles by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
United Airlines	31%	9.0	Boeing 757-200, Boeing 737-700	207	86%	384
Delta Air Lines	26%	6.6	Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 767-400ER	227	88%	436
JetBlue	22%	8.7	Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo	159	82%	337
American Airlines	13%	7.2	Airbus A321, Boeing 777-200	107	87%	622
Alaska Airlines	4%	1.4	Boeing 737 MAX 9, Boeing 737-900ER	176	86%	285
Spirit Airlines	3%	0.8	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo	191	89%	238
Frontier Airlines	2%	0.5	Airbus A321neo, Airbus A321	240	86%	209

What explains the differences

It's number 7 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 65 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.16 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 2,465 miles in this set comes out at about 332 kg, so this one is 23% above it.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: JFK to LAX (56%), EWR to LAX (36%), EWR to SNA (5%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 198% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 4,433 gallons per flight and 207 passengers on each, and American Airlines 5,952 gallons and 93 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 27% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 73%. Frontier Airlines flew 86% full here against 87% for American Airlines, flying mostly Airbus A321neo against Airbus A321.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.163 kg per passenger-mile) would give 402 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 1.1% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 6.0 million passengers on 41 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 5.2 million, down 14%, on 34 thousand flights, down 16%. The average flight had 167 seats then and 177 now, and 89% of them were filled against 86%.

CO2 per passenger was 402 kg in 2019 and 406 kg in 2025, up 1.2%. Fuel burned per flight was up 3.2% (6,119 gallons to 6,316) and passengers per flight were up 2.0% (149 to 152). The distance flown was about the same (2,466 miles then, 2,465 now).

United Airlines led in both years, with 28% of passengers in 2019 and 31% in 2025. Delta Air Lines gained the most share, 21% to 26%. Alaska Airlines lost the most, 14% to 4%. Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now together carry 5%.

Airline by airline, Alaska Airlines went from 310 kg to 285 kg per passenger (174 seats per flight to 176, main aircraft Boeing 737-900ER then and Boeing 737 MAX 9 now); United Airlines went from 373 kg to 384 kg per passenger (188 seats per flight to 207, main aircraft Boeing 757-200 in both years).

New York to Los Angeles, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	6,028	5,174
Flights (thousands)	40.6	34.1
Seats filled	89%	86%
Gallons of fuel per flight	6,119	6,316
kg CO2 per passenger	402	406

Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

New York to Los Angeles and back: time in the air

Flights from New York to Los Angeles spent 326 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 285 minutes from Los Angeles to New York: 40 minutes longer, 14% more. That's the westbound direction, into the prevailing west-to-east winds, which at flight levels often blow at well over 50 miles an hour.

At this route's average burn of about 1,240 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 835 gallons per flight, which is about 5.5 gallons or 54 kg of CO2 for each passenger on the slower direction. The route figure above averages both directions.

Time in the air by direction, 2025

Direction	Average minutes in the air	Flights
New York to Los Angeles	325.6	17,118
Los Angeles to New York	285.2	17,014

Fly or drive

Driving is about 2,884 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 857 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 111% more than the 406 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (286 kg each, and 214 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 1,136 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, New York to Los Angeles. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

What to take from it

In carbon terms the route has hardly changed. A passenger accounted for 402 kg in 2019 and 406 kg in 2025, even though 14% fewer people flew it. What changed is who carries them: Delta went from 21% of passengers to 26%, Alaska fell from 14% to 4%, and Spirit and Frontier went from under 1% each to 5% together.

If you're choosing a flight, check the seat count before the airline name, because here it tells you more. Expect to account for about 54 kg more on the westbound leg than on the way back. And if you can fill a car with three people, driving works out at 286 kg each, about 30% below the flight. Alone it comes to 857 kg, more than double.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Airports on this route: John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.