FAA Bans Parallel Landings at SFO, Cutting Arrival Capacity by a Third

The Federal Aviation Administration has permanently ended simultaneous side-by-side arrivals on San Francisco International Airport's closely spaced runways 28L and 28R, in a move that aviation outlets AVweb and Simple Flying say will cut the airport's peak arrival capacity by roughly one-third — from approximately 54 to 36 aircraft per hour. The FAA cited updated national safety standards as the primary driver, determining that visual separation procedures no longer meet current thresholds for the two parallel runways, which sit just 750 feet apart. The policy shift is broadly linked to a system-wide safety review that followed the fatal midair collision involving American Airlines Flight 5342 in January 2025.

Safety Rationale

Because of the unusually narrow separation between 28L and 28R, the FAA concluded that staggered approaches are necessary to reduce the risk of runway incursions and conflicts in the congested airspace around KSFO. The change represents one of the most significant operational restrictions placed on a major U.S. hub airport in recent years and underscores a broader federal push to tighten visual-approach standards at airports with closely spaced parallel runways.

Compounding Delays and Airline Impact

The timing is particularly challenging for SFO. A six-month repaving project on one of the airport's north-south runways is concentrating even more traffic on the 28L/28R complex, amplifying the effect of the new restriction. Airport officials warn that the combined constraints could leave 15% to 25% of flights facing delays of 30 minutes or more during peak periods. Hub carriers United Airlines and Alaska Airlines are expected to absorb the heaviest impact, as tighter arrival windows disrupt aircraft rotations and passenger connections across their networks.