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The FAA announced on Tuesday that it will be placing new safety restrictions at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) that will limit landings and cause flight delays.
The administration has prohibited flights from making side-by-side approaches to the airport's parallel east-west runways, according to Reuters. Additionally, a repaving project will put SFO's two north-south runways out of service for about six months. The FAA stated that it will not be lifting the restriction once the project is finished. These two factors will reduce flights from 54 flights per hour to 36 per hour.
The east-west runways are just 750 ft apart and have never allowed two planes to land at the same time in bad weather. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said officials decided that the limited separation and congested airspace make the practice too dangerous even in good weather, according to AP News. The airport is now required to do staggered approaches on the runways.
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SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel stated that about 25% of flights will be delayed by 30 minutes or more. United Airlines accounts for about half of the airport's traffic, making it the largest airline there. It stated in an email that it is reviewing the rule change to see if any changes need to be made to its flight schedule. Alaska Airlines, which makes up 10% of SFO's traffic, said in an email that the situation changes day by day. The airline experienced 15 delayed flights on Monday and no delays on Tuesday.
The runways under construction are expected to reopen on Oct. 2, which should alleviate some of the delays