What To Know About The Changes at SFO That Could Delay Your Flight

Many Bay Area travelers have been relieved that because San Francisco International Airport uses a private contractor for its security screening rather than the Transportation Security Administration, it has been largely unaffected by the partial government shutdown, which has caused hours-long security lines in other airports around the country.

But new guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration that went into effect on Monday is now restricting how planes land on SFO’s runways and is already causing delays for a quarter of arriving flights.

SFO uniquely has two main landing runways, about 750 feet apart. On a clear day, planes can land side-by-side, allowing around 60 arrivals per hour. On foggy days, SFO avoids these dual arrivals for safety reasons and reduces arrivals to 30 per hour.

Now, the FAA told KQED that the agency’s “safety measure prohibits flights from making side-by-side approaches to SFO’s parallel east-west runways in clear weather when the pilots acknowledge having the other aircraft in sight.”

And as of Monday, the FAA’s new rule for SFO landings “requires staggered approaches, with one aircraft offset from the aircraft on the parallel runway,” the statement reads.

This change has already led to flight delays “averaging around 30 minutes,” SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel said.

So if you have an upcoming flight in or out of SFO, or are planning to travel soon, what should you know? Read more on these restrictions and how they could impact your flights in and out of the Bay’s biggest airport.

Jump straight to: 

• What should I do if I have an existing flight booking?
• Will this change impact security lines, too?

What are the changes to SFO’s runways, and why will this cause flight delays?

Firstly, you should know: Delays caused by this new FAA runway restriction are coming on the heels of unrelated construction work at SFO that’s also causing delays.

On March 30, unrelated to the recent FAA restriction, SFO closed Runway 1 Right for construction that is predicted to last six months. Yakel said the airport is currently forecasting that 15% of flights will be delayed over the next half a year due to this project.

But now, on top of that, the FAA restriction will also “increase the delay potential to approximately 25% of arriving flights experiencing a delay of at least 30 minutes,” Yakel said.

“We are working with the FAA on ways to improve the arrival rate at SFO,” Yakel said to KQED. “We remain in contact with both the FAA and airlines on this issue.”

The FAA confirmed to KQED that it is “exploring ways to safely increase the airport arrival rate.”

All of which is to say: Between construction and the new FAA restriction, there’s a higher chance passengers will face flight delays at SFO.

Does this just affect incoming flights at SFO?

The restriction — and the 25%-of-flights-affected figure — apply to arriving flights, Yakel said.

“But if that arriving aircraft is turning around to represent a departing flight, that could also experience a delay,” he said.

That means that even if your flight leaves from SFO, you could still be left waiting — because the plane your flight is using has been delayed arriving.

Will this impact existing bookings for flights arriving at SFO?

This depends on the airlines, Yakel said.

“We know they are looking into this,” he said. “Airlines would communicate such changes directly to affected customers.”

A spokesperson with United Airlines — which has its hub at SFO — said that they are “reviewing the FAA’s updated guidance to determine if we will need to make any changes to our flight schedule in the future.”

“We encourage customers to check their flight status in the United app,” the spokesperson said.

KQED photographer Beth LaBerge, who previously worked for years as a customer service agent for Delta Airlines, said in a previous guide exploring hacks for navigating SFO smoothly that the airport is already known for what’s called “flow control delay,” especially during morning flights when the marine layer comes in.

“Being proactive is one of the biggest things that I recommend to anyone flying from anywhere,” LaBerge said. She recommended that you download your airline’s app and turn on alerts, which “will give you updates about delays, gate changes [and] cancellations, and just help you stay ahead of those surprises.”

As a backup, travelers can also check on the status of their flight on the SFO website.

How long will this restriction be in place?

Yakel said that the “FAA has yet to communicate a timeframe for this.”

SFO’s unrelated runway construction project, however, is scheduled to end on Oct. 2. However, Yakel said, if the FAA’s restrictions remain in place, then we would still see 25% of flights delayed.”

Will this cause the same security delays that travelers are seeing around the country?

Yakel said the new FAA rule will not impact security lines at SFO.

Since Feb. 14, TSA staff have worked without pay due to the ongoing partial government shutdown — and with many calling out of work, passengers across the United States have experienced hours-long security screening lines.

SFO has been spared long wait lines by the fact that its security screening is contracted by a private company rather than the TSA.

The national situation was somewhat alleviated by a late March executive order by President Donald Trump that allowed TSA agents around the country to get paid. It is unclear how long agents will be paid this way.