SFO Construction To Improve Runway Safety, Cause Flight Delays
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The Federal Aviation Administration is set to downgrade the efficiency ranking of San Francisco International Airport, this as the facility is set to embark on a major construction project this spring.
The downgrade means that the FAA believes the airport is vulnerable to scheduling delays and congestion, with airlines likely to modify their schedules.
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:
The multi-year construction, which is scheduled to get underway at the end of March, will improve runaway safety areas at SFO as airport spokesman Mike McCarron said the current runways don't meet the length requirement of the FAA.
"This is a requirement that came after an incident in Chicago where a plane overran the runway and landed in a gas station across the street," he said.
McCarron said that they will have to make adjustments to accommodate the work being done.
"As a result, we'll have to close parts of the runway at different times during the construction process," said McCarron. "This could impact us as far as delays. We have peaks and valleys throughout the day so maybe they can look at some of the less profitable flights and move them to a different time of day where it's not as busy and hopefully flatten that peak and valley out a little bit so that there's not as many delay issues."
San Francisco International Airport already has one of the lowest-performing on-time arrival rates of national hubs, mainly due to the ever-changing weather conditions.
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