El Paso to Chicago

What the Data Says About ELP to ORD

The El Paso to Chicago corridor (ELP → ORD) covers roughly 1,236 miles and is served by 28 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 4,034 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 85.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 89.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,380 flights were recorded on this pairing — 17 cancelled (1.2%) and 9 diverted (0.7%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 28 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 4,034 total flights analyzed, the 85.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 89.6-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 95% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 56% on-time — a 39-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ELP to ORD route, the combination of a 85.4% on-time rate, 89.6-minute average delay, 1.2% recent cancellation rate, and 28 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.