El Paso, TX

What the Data Says About ELP

El Paso, TX in El Paso, Texas handled 186,225 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 81.4% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 34,595 experienced delays, 1,832 were cancelled, and 242 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.98%, the diversion rate to 0.13%, and the average delay when departures run late is 71.0 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing ELP against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at ELP, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 45.4% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 35.0% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 14.2%. Weather contributes 5.2% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.1%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, January runs the cleanest at ELP with a 93.5% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 89.2% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in October, when average flights hit 2,804. The busiest route from ELP is to DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth), with 16,187 flights at a 80.5% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 81.4% on-time, 71.0-minute average delay, 0.98% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at El Paso, TX.