Chicago to El Paso

What the Data Says About ORD to ELP

The Chicago to El Paso corridor (ORD → ELP) covers roughly 1,236 miles and is served by 28 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 4,032 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 64.4 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 4 diverted (0.3%). 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 4,032 total flights analyzed, the 81.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 64.4-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 97% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 55% on-time — a 42-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to ELP route, the combination of a 81.2% on-time rate, 64.4-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.