Connecting at JFK: why changing terminals means security again

Last checked 24 September 2026

Is a 45-minute layover enough at New York JFK?

We estimate about 25% of 45-minute connections at New York JFK ended in a missed connection between September 2025 and August 2026. How we count a missed connection

Allow 97 minutes for a connection in the same terminal at New York JFK, or 109 minutes if you change terminal.

Based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection's hourly figures, passport control at New York JFK averaged 22 minutes across its terminals (U.S. citizens 13 minutes, non-U.S. citizens 34; September 2025 to August 2026). That figure leaves out collecting and re-checking bags and the security re-screen, which at large US hubs we estimate add about 30 to 45 minutes.

Check your exact flights →

JFK works less like one airport and more like several terminals that share runways. Each terminal has its own security checkpoint, and you can't walk between them inside security. So the first question for any JFK connection is simple: do both flights leave from the same terminal?

At a glance

• Same terminal: stay behind security and walk to your gate.
• Different terminal: leave security, ride the free AirTrain, and go through TSA screening again.
• Delta in Terminal 4: a free shuttle bus links the A and B concourses, with no second security check.
• Arriving from abroad: clear immigration, collect your bags, recheck them and go through security again.

Who flies from where

The main US airlines each have a home terminal at JFK. Delta is in Terminal 4, JetBlue in Terminal 5, American and Alaska in Terminal 8, and Frontier in Terminal 7. Terminal 1 has international airlines such as Air France, Lufthansa and Korean Air. Sun Country and Cape Air share Terminal 5 with JetBlue.

These lists change, and codeshares are common. A flight sold by one airline may be operated by a partner in another terminal. Before you land, check your boarding pass or the airline's app for the terminal your next flight leaves from.

Connections that stay behind security

If both flights leave from the same terminal, you won't go through security again. In Terminal 4, Delta runs a free shuttle bus between the A and B concourses, so you don't need to leave the secure area. It stops at gates B23 and B54 and near gate A9.

Changing terminals

This is where JFK connections get tight. To change terminals, you leave the secure area and take the AirTrain, which is free between terminals. The airport says the ride takes under 10 minutes and trains run every 5 to 15 minutes. Then you go through TSA screening again at your new terminal.

The train is the predictable part. The security queue at the next terminal isn't. That's why GateCast treats a terminal change at JFK very differently from a same-terminal connection with the same amount of time. The time budget has to cover the wait for a train, the ride and a second security check.

Arriving from abroad

Follow these steps in order.

1. Everyone arriving from abroad: clear US immigration at JFK, even if your next flight is domestic.
2. Everyone with checked bags: collect them, even if they're tagged through to your final destination.
3. If you're connecting onward: drop your bags at the baggage recheck facility.
4. If you're connecting onward: go through security again at the terminal your next flight leaves from. If that's a different terminal, take the AirTrain there first.

On a few routes, eligible connecting passengers don't collect and recheck their bags, but still go through security again. Check with your airline.

What's changing

JFK is in the middle of a major rebuild:

• Terminal 6: the Port Authority's project page says the first five gates open in 2026. Metro Airport News reported on 13 February 2026 that Terminal 6 will be physically connected to Terminal 5 upon its opening. As of 1 November 2026 the airport's terminal page lists Terminals 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and not Terminal 6, and we found no airport or Port Authority notice that it has opened.
• The New Terminal One is expected to open its first phase in 2027, on the site of today's Terminal 1.

Terminal assignments will shift as these open, so always check the terminal on the day.

Tips

• Check the departure terminal for your next flight before you land, especially on a codeshare.
• If you're changing terminals, keep your boarding pass and ID handy for the second security check.
• If you're arriving from abroad, collect your bags even if they're tagged through.

How we count a missed connection

The layover times and missed-connection percentages on this page are estimates from our model, built on US DOT records (September 2025 to August 2026), with no guarantee; never book shorter than your airline's minimum connection time.

Each time is our model's point estimate of where the fitted missed-connection curve levels off, from past flights between September 2025 and August 2026. The curve is calculated at 5-minute steps and joined by straight lines. Giving the time to the minute does not make it more certain: when we re-ran the estimate on 200 resampled sets of days, 95% of the times at New York JFK for staying in the same terminal fell between 70 and 102 minutes, and for changing terminal between 107 and 126 minutes.

A missed connection means the real delays and cancellations that day left less time than our estimate of how long the change takes; estimated from US DOT on-time records for September 2025 to August 2026, with no passenger data.

The 45-minute figure is the estimated share of connections at New York JFK that ended in a missed connection. The time in the box is the shortest layover after which another 15 minutes lowers the estimated missed-connection rate by less than 1 percentage point, on a curve fitted so that it never rises. The 1 percentage point is a judgement constant that we set. Extra time helps less and less because cancellations and long delays cause missed connections at any gap. At New York JFK, the estimated missed-connection rate was 12.3% at 97 minutes if you stay in the same terminal, and 14.9% at 109 minutes if you change terminal (share of connections, September 2025 to August 2026). An estimated 3% of the 45-minute connections at New York JFK were already shorter than our estimate of the change on the schedule. We don't give a figure for 30 minutes. A 30-minute connection is about as long as our own estimate of the change (typically 26 to 31 minutes at one terminal) and often shorter, so a percentage would mostly come from that estimate.

The passport-control figure is our average of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's hourly averages at New York JFK, weighted by passengers, for flights arriving between September 2025 and August 2026 (CBP Airport Wait Times, awt.cbp.gov, downloaded 22 October 2026). CBP says its wait times "do not include time to retrieve baggage or navigate through the airport." The 30 to 45 minutes for bags and the security re-screen is our rough estimate for large US hubs, based on airlines' stated savings of up to 25 minutes for bag transfer and up to 45 minutes for skipping the re-screen in their international-connection trials, and on traveller reports; actual times vary widely and we have no figure for New York JFK alone.

Checked 24 September 2026 (Terminal 6 status rechecked 1 November 2026); layover figures checked 23 October 2026; passport-control figures checked 22 October 2026. Terminals and airlines change, so confirm with your airline before you travel.

• Thunderstorm days: the six US hubs where your flight is most likely to get cancelled
• The month in US connections: July 2026

Search flights from New York (JFK) on Kiwi.com (affiliate link)

Book hotels near JFK Sponsored