SAN FRANCISCO — The closure of a busy runway at San Francisco International Airport kept scores of passengers from getting away on time, if they got away at all over the weekend.
By 7 p.m. Saturday, 343 flights into or out of the airport either had been delayed or cancelled entirely, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. Ninety-seven had been cancelled entirely.
As of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, an additional 321 flights had been delayed, with 131 outright cancellations.
It may last a while. A three-week reconstruction project kicked off Saturday, and runway 28L will be closed the entire time.
#SFOAlert 📢 Runway 28L will be closed for 20 days for scheduled reconstruction starting today. Please check with your airline for the latest information on flight status. pic.twitter.com/6D7UQBCJEV
— flySFO ✈️ (@flySFO) September 7, 2019
Passengers on SkyWest Airlines were having a particularly tough time — 68 of the airline’s flights were canceled Saturday, and 16 were delayed. By Sunday, the airline saw 91 cancellations and 14 delays.
There were 43 delays and eight cancellations of United Airlines flights, and 33 delays and eight cancellations for Southwest passengers, FlightAware reported. On Sunday, United saw 11 cancellations and 97 delays, while Southwest saw 15 cancellations and 34 delays.
I've been siting in SFO for six hours because my flight keeps getting delayed by United. They blame runway construction but SFO announced this construction in March. How is this a surprise? Oh well I've been on a tweeting rampage…I am sure I'm going to regret this.
— Michael Hall (@veloracermike) September 7, 2019
SFO officials said passengers should check with their airline to find out if their flights are affected.
One passenger who worked to plan ahead for a flight later this week found a helpful response from an airline, switching to Oakland International Airport:
I am extremely worried about my flight this Friday to SFO. Can you see if you can change my destination to OAK instead? If trend continues, and I’m sure it will as the construction will last 20 days, it will be a disaster. Thanks!
— allison (@helloallisonkim) September 8, 2019
Hi there, Allison. Do you mind DMing your confirmation number so we can look into this for you? -Rocky
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) September 8, 2019
Shout out to @SouthwestAir for helping me switch my upcoming flight to OAK, to avoid SFO delay. Super appreciated!
— allison (@helloallisonkim) September 8, 2019
Airport duty manager Denise Baylor said there were also weather-related delays Saturday to some East Coast destinations because of Hurricane Dorian. Baylor said problems from the runway construction were not any worse than airport officials anticipated.
A call to an airport duty manager was not immediately returned Sunday.
Check back for updates.
Staff writers Rick Hurd and George Kelly contributed to this story.