New York to Tampa

Between New York and Tampa, 2.5 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 18 thousand flights of about 1,008 miles and 2.4 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 153 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 120 kg on Frontier Airlines to 189 kg on Southwest Airlines.

153 kgCO2 per passenger, average
1,008 milesabout 2.4 hours in the air
2.5 millionpassengers in 2025
83%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 Tampa by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
Delta Air Lines	30%	5.3	Boeing 737-900ER, Boeing 737-800	175	83%	158
United Airlines	26%	4.5	Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-900ER	174	86%	139
JetBlue	25%	4.7	Airbus A320-200, Airbus A220-300	158	84%	165
Frontier Airlines	8%	1.3	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo	203	81%	120
American Airlines	7%	1.4	Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 MAX 8	172	76%	174
Southwest Airlines	2%	0.4	Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800	155	70%	189
Allegiant Air	2%	0.2	Airbus A320-200	179	86%	145

What explains the differences

It's number 42 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 50 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.15 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 1,008 miles in this set comes out at about 152 kg, so this one is close to that.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: EWR to TPA (31%), LGA to TPA (30%), JFK to TPA (28%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 57% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 2,035 gallons per flight and 165 passengers on each, and Southwest Airlines 2,116 gallons and 109 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 9% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 91%. Frontier Airlines flew 81% full here against 70% for Southwest Airlines, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Boeing 737-700.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 130 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 18% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.2 million passengers on 17 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.5 million, up 16%, on 18 thousand flights, up 4%. The average flight had 151 seats then and 172 now, and 84% of them were filled against 83%.

CO2 per passenger was 169 kg in 2019 and 153 kg in 2025, down 9.4%. Fuel burned per flight was up 1.9% (2,199 gallons to 2,240) and passengers per flight were up 12.5% (127 to 142). The distance flown was about the same (1,007 miles then, 1,008 now).

Delta Air Lines led in both years, with 29% of passengers in 2019 and 30% in 2025. Frontier Airlines gained the most share, 4% to 8%. Southwest Airlines lost the most, 11% to 2%. American Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 7%. Spirit Airlines no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 2% in 2019.

Airline by airline, Delta Air Lines went from 190 kg to 158 kg per passenger (139 seats per flight to 175, main aircraft Airbus A320-200 then and Boeing 737-900ER now); JetBlue went from 173 kg to 165 kg per passenger (145 seats per flight to 158, main aircraft Airbus A320-200 in both years).

The airports changed too: EWR to TPA handled 37% of the passengers in 2019 and 31% in 2025.

New York to Tampa, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	2,185	2,544
Flights (thousands)	17.3	17.9
Seats filled	84%	83%
Gallons of fuel per flight	2,199	2,240
kg CO2 per passenger	169	153

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 Tampa and back: time in the air

Flights from New York to Tampa spent 148 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 135 minutes from Tampa to New York: 12 minutes longer, 9% 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 951 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 196 gallons per flight, which is about 1.4 gallons or 13 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 Tampa	147.6	8,954
Tampa to New York	135.2	8,915

Fly or drive

Driving is about 1,179 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 350 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 128% more than the 153 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (117 kg each, and 88 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 465 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, New York to Tampa. 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.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

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