FAA Limits Arrivals at San Francisco Airport During Runway Repairs

Restrictions will lead to significant flight delays at the 13th-busiest U.S. airport.

Mar. 31, 2026 at 7:24pm by Ben Kaplan

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A bold, geometric illustration in the Art Deco style, featuring towering, streamlined airport architecture and aircraft silhouettes against a vibrant, gradient sky, capturing the grand scale and sweeping perspectives of air travel.Sweeping architectural forms and aircraft silhouettes evoke the grand scale and efficiency of modern air travel, even as delays loom at one of the nation's busiest airports.San Francisco Today

The Federal Aviation Administration is imposing new safety restrictions at San Francisco International Airport that will limit some landings and lead to significant delays. The 13th-busiest U.S. airport will experience delays due to a runway repaving project and the agency's decision to prohibit flights from making side-by-side approaches to San Francisco's parallel east-west runways in clear weather.

Why it matters

The FAA's decision to limit arrivals at San Francisco International Airport will have a major impact on travelers, as the airport is a major hub for several major airlines. The runway repairs and new safety protocols are aimed at improving safety, but will come at the cost of increased flight delays and disruptions.

The details

The FAA is reducing the maximum arrival rate at SFO from 54 flights per hour to 36, and does not plan to lift the restrictions once the runway repaving is completed. The airport's runway project will put the two north-south runways out of service for approximately six months. While the airport previously forecast about 15% of flights to be delayed by the runway project, it now expects the change to increase the potential for delays to about a quarter of arriving flights experiencing a delay of at least 30 minutes.

  • The FAA announced the new restrictions on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
  • The runway repaving project at SFO is expected to last approximately six months.

The players

Federal Aviation Administration

The U.S. government agency responsible for the regulation and oversight of civil aviation.

San Francisco International Airport

The 13th-busiest airport in the United States, serving as a major hub for several major airlines.

United Airlines

The airline that accounts for about half of the passenger traffic at San Francisco International Airport.

Alaska Airlines

The airline that accounts for about 10% of the passenger traffic at San Francisco International Airport.

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What they’re saying

“The planned runway construction may cause flight delays.”

— United Airlines

What’s next

The FAA is exploring ways to safely increase the airport's arrival rate and has taken a number of steps to reduce the chances of accidents due to visual separation issues.

The takeaway

The FAA's decision to limit arrivals at SFO will have a significant impact on travelers, with up to 25% of arriving flights experiencing delays of at least 30 minutes. This highlights the challenges airports and airlines face in balancing safety and efficiency, especially during major infrastructure projects.