Seeing Manhattan from JFK
 

I'm flying from DFW into JFK for a layover and I would love to see the skyline. I never seem to have much luck with seeing skylines, it's always too cloudy or I'm on the wrong side of the plane to see whatever city I'm flying into. But maybe my luck will change this time so please tell me which side of the plane I should sit on. I'm flying AA so I assume I'll be coming into Terminal 8.

Thanks.

I've seen the skyline from both sides of the plane, but I rarely fly into JFK domestically. It depends on the approach. The runway matters, not the terminal.

Hard to say. Depends whether you're flying up the Appalachians and off the coast to Long Island, or inland through Ohio and Pennsylvania. Looking at recent flights on flightaware, it's about 50/50. Left side if flying up the coast, right side if inland. Less affected by which runway it uses.

The last few times I've flown into JFK our downwind leg was out over NJ, followed by a couple of left turns to line up with 13L, so you'd want to sit on the left hand side of the plane. But of course it depends on wind direction and ATC.

Note you can see the Manhattan skyline from several windows in T8, if you're flying out of JFK on AA also.

Actually, I'm not sure which runway we used, but definitely passed Manhattan on the left.

Again, it's not which runway it uses, but the route it takes from DFW to the Northeast.

I fly DFW to JFK (and into other NYC area airports) numerous times a year and I agree with rkkwan - there's no way to know in advance which side of the plane will give you the best view. It all depends on which routing the plane takes. Of course, even if you did know the routing ahead of time when you get near NYC there could be lots of air traffic and the plane goes into a holding pattern and you end up landing on a completely different runway. I've seen the NYC skyline from both sides of the plane.

So, you just have to "takes your chances".

OK thanks everyone, it looks like it's not a sure thing no matter where I sit. Let's hope for the best.