San Francisco International Airport Reduce Arrivals: Passengers Told to Expect Delays

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it has reduced the arrival capacity of the San Francisco International Airport.

Because of this, passengers are being told to expect delays and to get in touch with airline companies regarding updates to schedules.

FAA Cuts Flight Capacity of San Francisco Airport

According to a report by Fox Business, the maximum arrival rates for the San Francisco International Airport have been lowered from 54 flights per hour to 36 flights per hour.

Delays of at least 30 minutes are to be expected for arriving flights, per the FAA.

The changes made to the arrival rates of the airport have been made due to runway safety concerns, as well as runway construction.

The north-south runways are at the center of a repaving project, which means that runways cannot be used for six months.

As Travel Weekly notes in its report, the north-south runways are responsible for nine of the 18 flight-per-hour reductions. The change in rules will apply to the remaining nine.

When Will the North-South Runways Reopen?

San Francisco International Airport Doug Yakel assured that the north-south runways will be reopened by October to help ease the flow of incoming flights.

However, the FAA has no plans to change the minimum arrivals rates even when the repaving project has been completed.

This is because the FAA is no longer permitting the airport's practice of landing two planes at the same time on its parallel runways. These runways are just 750 feet apart, which FAA spokesman Ian Gregor described as too dangerous.