Runway work causes major delays, cancellations at SFO

Inbound flights to San Francisco International Airport are experiencing an average delay of almost four hours, due in large part to a runway out of service for reconstruction, according to the website FlightAware.

Runway 28L, one of SFO’s four runways, closed Saturday for a scheduled 20-day reconstruction.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, 312 flights – departures and arrivals – had experienced significant delays Sunday, said Chuck Navigante, an SFO duty manager.

Additionally, as of 5 p.m. Sunday, 131 arriving flights and departures had been cancelled, Navigante said.

Those numbers include delays and cancellations for all causes, including mechanical failures and weather problems in connecting cities. But Navigante said the biggest reason, by far, for the delays and cancellations is the runway work.

Navagante said:

“It’s pretty much going to remain this was for the duration of the runway work.”

Airport officials ask that anyone planning to fly out of SFO in the next 19 days, or meet an arriving flight, to check with the specific airline on the status of any given flight before making plans.