The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday imposed new safety restrictions on landings at San Francisco International Airport, a move expected to reduce the number of flights that can arrive per hour, increasing the risk of delays for travelers.
“San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will experience some flight delays due to a runway repaving project and an FAA safety measure,” the agency said in a statement to the Chronicle.
The construction project will take the airport’s two north-south runways out of service for about six months, the FAA said.
At the same time, the agency is prohibiting flights from making side-by-side approaches to SFO’s parallel east-west runways, even in clear weather, when pilots can see nearby aircraft.
“The FAA 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,” the agency said. “It requires staggered approaches, with one aircraft offset from the aircraft on the parallel runway.”
The FAA noted that such side-by-side approaches were already barred in inclement weather.
Together, the changes will cut the airport’s maximum arrival rate from 54 flights per hour to 36, according to Reuters. The news agency also reported that the FAA does not plan to lift the approach restrictions after the runway project is completed.
“The FAA has made us aware of this reduced arrival rate,” said Doug Yakel, a spokesperson for San Francisco International Airport. “While we were forecasting about 15% of flights being delayed by our runway project, we expect this change will increase the delay potential to approximately 25% of arriving flights experiencing a delay of at least 30 minutes. We are working with the FAA on ways to improve the arrival rate at SFO.”
The FAA confirmed it was “exploring ways to safely increase the airport arrival rate.”
The runway project, which began this week, includes repaving, taxiway upgrades, lighting improvements and new markings, according to airport officials. During construction, arrivals and departures will be consolidated onto Runways 28R and 28L, while Runway 1L will be used as a taxiway.
Reuters reported that the FAA cited recent incidents involving aircraft and helicopters, including a near miss near San Antonio. The new measures also follow a January 2025 midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people.
United Airlines accounts for roughly half of passenger traffic at SFO, with Alaska Airlines a distant second at about 10%, according to airport data.