Devender Singh, who lives in Louisiana, had last month pleaded guilty before District Judge Stanley R Chesler in Newark to an information charging him with abusive sexual contact.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Singh to serve two years of supervised release and required him to register as a sex offender.
The incident happened in March this year when Singh was travelling in a flight from Houston to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
After pushing Singh off her and telling him to get away, the woman went to the back of the plane and told a flight crew member what had happened, asking that the police be present when the plane landed, the Department of Justice said.
The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur on aircraft in flight in the United States.