In an effort to address significant delays at SFO caused by a ban on parallel-runway landings in March, the FAA is now allowing staggered arrivals on clear days, which will increase the number of arrivals from 36 per hour to 42.

Starting Wednesday, the FAA is allowing arriving planes to begin landing on San Francisco International Airport's closely spaced parallel runways using staggered landings, as Bay City News reports.

The FAA stopped allowing parallel landings in March, after determining that the two runways, which are just 750 feet apart, were too close for simultaneous landings. The change came as SFO was already dealing with two other runways being taken out of service for construction, cutting the airport’s clear-weather arrival capacity from 54 flights per hour to 36. It also led to significant delays — from an average of five minutes per flight to 20.

According to Bay City News, the revised procedure will have arriving planes alternate between the two runways, with staggered timing keeping one aircraft ahead of the other. The FAA expects the change to bring the clear-weather arrival rate up to 42 flights per hour. It’s still 12 fewer arrivals than SFO could handle before the March changes, but six more than the airport could accommodate prior to Wednesday’s update.

“While this will not fully restore the arrival rate we had when true side-by-side landings were permitted, this is nonetheless a step in the right direction,” Doug Yakel, SFO's spokesperson, told Bay City News.

The staggered approach will only be used during clear weather conditions, as it’s not suitable for low visibility or other weather conditions.

Previously: Delays at SFO Skyrocket Following Runway Closure and New FAA Restrictions

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