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Window Seat

Santa Ana → New York

SNA–JFK · John Wayne Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport

Best bet

Either side

Both sides workThe two sides come out close to level.

Both sides have something going for them, and the totals come out close enough that picking one would be a coin flip with extra steps.

Flight paths move around. Treat this as the better bet, not a promise.

What you might see

In flight order, with distance measured from the representative route.

SNA to JFK: where each landmark sits relative to the routeA diagram of the representative route running left to right, with the departure airport at the left and the arrival airport at the right. Landmarks on the left side of the aircraft are plotted above the route line and landmarks on the right side below it, each at its distance from the route. The numbered list below this diagram carries the same information as text.SNAJFKLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678910
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 46 miles); the shaded ends are the 40-mile zones around each airport where the runway in use decides the view. Numbers match the list below. Hollow markers didn't count toward the recommendation.

  1. San Jacinto Peak

    RightEarly19 mi off the route

    San Jacinto Peak is about 19 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Good possibility

  2. San Gorgonio Mountain

    Either sideEarly2 mi off the route

    San Gorgonio Mountain passes almost directly beneath early in the flight, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  3. Grand Canyon

    LeftEarly28 mi off the route

    Look left early in the flight for Grand Canyon, about 28 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. San Francisco Peaks

    RightQuarter in29 mi off the route

    San Francisco Peaks is about 29 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  5. Monument Valley

    LeftQuarter in46 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Monument Valley sits roughly 46 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  6. Canyon de Chelly

    RightQuarter in19 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Canyon de Chelly, about 19 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Shiprock

    Either sideQuarter in3 mi off the route

    Shiprock passes almost directly beneath about a quarter of the way in, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  8. Sangre de Cristo Mountains

    Either sideQuarter in4 mi off the route

    Sangre de Cristo Mountains passes almost directly beneath about a quarter of the way in, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  9. Great Sand Dunes

    LeftQuarter in15 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Great Sand Dunes, about 15 miles out.

    Good possibility

  10. Manhattan

    Either sideNear the end6 mi off the route

    Whether Manhattan appears comes down to how you come into JFK, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

The sun

Flying soon? Add your date and departure time and we'll work out where the sun should be, and which side gets less of it.

Airport codes or city names. SEA, Seattle, and Seattle-Tacoma all work.

Skip the date and you still get the landmark answer. Add it and we work out where the sun will be, using the departure airport's local time.

The route we used

2,449 mi
Great-circle distance
66°
Course out of SNA
93°
Course into JFK
6
Landmarks that counted

That is the shortest path between the two airports, used as a representative corridor rather than a flight plan. The first and last 40 miles are treated as uncertain, because that part of the flight is shaped by the runway in use and the published departure or arrival procedure. Anything in those zones is listed and marked, never counted toward the recommendation.

Left and right, from where?

Left and right are from your perspective sitting in the cabin, facing the front of the aircraft. Seat letters are not a reliable guide to which side you are on, because aircraft are configured differently.

Why this isn't guaranteed

Flights don't follow the same path every day. Runway configuration, weather deviations, traffic, and air traffic control all move the track around, and none of it is knowable in advance. We also have nothing to say about cloud cover, which is the other thing standing between you and Mount Rainier. The full method.

Flying the other way?

New York → Santa AnaEither side

Calculated from scratch, not by flipping this one. The landmarks arrive in the opposite order, the sun is somewhere else entirely, and the answer changes with them.

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