Best time to fly out of El Paso (ELP)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at El Paso: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.3% of the time, against 64.8% in the 8–10pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 94 | 94 | 93 | 95 | 95 | 92 | 97 |
| 6–8am | 93 | 94 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 92 |
| 8–10am | 86 | 91 | 91 | 90 | 88 | 89 | 90 |
| 10am–12pm | 84 | 88 | 87 | 83 | 82 | 83 | 84 |
| 12–2pm | 81 | 86 | 83 | 82 | 81 | 82 | 80 |
| 2–4pm | 75 | 81 | 79 | 74 | 74 | 80 | 75 |
| 4–6pm | 68 | 73 | 73 | 67 | 65 | 71 | 65 |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 77 | 75 | 69 | 69 | 74 | 68 |
| 8–10pm | 67 | 75 | 71 | 59 | 64 | 79 | 57 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ELP was Before 6am — 94.3% of departures left on time across 3,227 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 64.8%. 6–8am departures from ELP left on time 92.6% of the time across 10,076 flights; 6–8pm departures, 71.4% across 5,669. That is a gap of 21.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ELP
June was the hard month at ELP: 74.4% of departures left on time, across 4,327 flights. February was the easy one at 86.5%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85.1% | 3,912 |
| February | 86.5% | 3,551 |
| March | 81.8% | 4,179 |
| April | 81.9% | 4,223 |
| May | 76.8% | 4,360 |
| June | 74.4% | 4,327 |
| July | 76.7% | 4,460 |
| August | 83.9% | 4,469 |
| September | 85.1% | 4,244 |
| October | 85.2% | 4,622 |
| November | 85.1% | 4,393 |
| December | 83.3% | 4,436 |
Airlines at ELP
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ELP, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 80.7% | 54 min | 0.6% | 26,806 |
| American Airlines | 79.2% | 100 min | 2.3% | 7,345 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 88.6% | 111 min | 0.6% | 6,490 |
| Envoy Air | 84.1% | 76 min | 0.8% | 4,472 |
| Delta Air Lines | 88.1% | 81 min | 1.1% | 2,156 |
| Frontier Airlines | 76.9% | 84 min | 1.6% | 1,829 |
| United Airlines | 84.1% | 90 min | 0.5% | 1,570 |
| Republic Airways | 90.3% | — | 1.3% | 240 |
| Allegiant Air | 63.9% | 96 min | 1.3% | 149 |
| Alaska Airlines | 85.7% | — | 0% | 119 |
A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.
What delays out of ELP were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 8,658 flights that departed ELP and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 48.5% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 31.7% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 48.5%
- Airline operations 31.7%
- Air traffic & airport volume 15.3%
- Severe weather 4.4%
- Security 0.2%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through ELP
Of 51,179 scheduled arrivals into ELP, 77.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 11,198 arrivals that ran late, 57.8% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of ELP
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- DFW 77.9% on time · 8,429 flights
- PHX 83.9% on time · 7,828 flights
- DEN 80.6% on time · 5,329 flights
- DAL 84.5% on time · 5,257 flights
- LAS 81.7% on time · 4,105 flights
- LAX 86% on time · 4,018 flights
- AUS 84.8% on time · 3,532 flights
- HOU 86.3% on time · 3,149 flights
- SAT 82.4% on time · 2,367 flights
- ATL 88.8% on time · 2,156 flights
ELP in one number
El Paso (ELP)
Rank 75 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about ELP
- What is the best time of day to fly out of El Paso?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.3% of the time across 3,227 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 64.8%.
- Is the early flight out of ELP really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ELP left on time 92.6% of the time across 10,076 flights; 6–8pm departures, 71.4% across 5,669. That is a gap of 21.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ELP?
- June: 74.4% of the departures that flew left on time, with 4,327 scheduled. February was the other end of the year at 86.5%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at ELP?
- Republic Airways — 90.3% of its 240 departures from ELP left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 63.9% over 149 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at ELP?
- 0.9% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.