Nearly 250 flights delayed, 103 canceled during construction at San Francisco International Airport
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Flying through San Francisco anytime soon? You may want to change your plans. Saturday, Sept. 7 was the first day San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) busiest runway was closed for construction — and it showed. According to ABC 7 News, nearly 250 flights were delayed, while a further 103 were canceled. The construction is due to continue for 20 days, lasting all the way to Sept. 27 at a cost of $16.2 million
According to the FAA, flight delays were averaging four hours, a figure that jives with my own experience heading to San Francisco yesterday. My own flight, which is usually blocked for just an hour and a half (and in reality takes about an hour) was instead scheduled for a whopping four hours and forty three minutes:
Fortunately, my flight was carrying time-sensitive medical supplies (as announced by the pilot), so we landed on time instead of sitting on the runway for several hours. Many other passengers weren’t so lucky, and took to Twitter to express their frustration:
@AmericanAir I was supposed to land at SFO at 2:19pm. after at least four delays and a flight change, I’m now landing at almost 11pm. Beautiful day in both NYC and SFO too, so it can’t be blamed on weather. What are you going to do to make up for the invonvience?
— Troy O’Sullivan (@taos1976) September 7, 2019
@AirCanada Ac 8590 canceled today at SFO. We are now delayed and rebooked for 12 hrs from original flight. This is after we spent extra for business class for our honeymoon. So this unexpected delay will cost your consumers. Is there really nothing air canada can do to help?
— Christie Tieh (@ctieh3) September 7, 2019
At this point, United is offering waived change fees on flights, allowing you to rebook your flight without the standard $200 penalty. Though it doesn’t yet look like other airlines are following suit, they may change their minds as continued delays at SFO lead to increased customer frustration.
Feature photo courtesy of San Francisco International Airport
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