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San Francisco International Airport

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FAA diagram of SFO
"SFO" redirects here. For other uses, see SFO (disambiguation).
"KSFO" redirects here. For the radio station, see KSFO (AM).

San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO) is a major international airport located 13 miles (21 km) south of San Francisco, California, adjacent to the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. The airport has flights to destinations throughout the Americas and is a major gateway to Europe, Asia, and Australasia.

San Francisco is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of 2005, San Francisco International Airport is the fourteenth largest in the United States[1] and the twenty-third largest airport in the world,[2] in terms of passengers. It is a major hub of United Airlines, and is expected to become the main hub of Virgin America when the airline begins operations in 2006.

The airport enjoys a connection to an adjacent freeway, U.S. Route 101, as well as having its own Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station adjoining one of its terminals. Interstate 380 intersects Highway 101 north of the airport, providing further connections to the region.

SFO has numerous passenger amenities, including a wide range of food and drink establishments, shopping, baggage storage, public showers, a medical clinic, and assistance for lost or stranded travelers and military personnel. The airport hosts the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library, and both permanent and temporary art exhibitions in several places in the terminals. Public Wi-Fi is available throughout most of the terminal area, provided by T-Mobile for a fee.[3]

History

The airport was first opened on May 7 1927 on 150 acres (607,000 m²) of cow pasture. The land was leased from prominent local landowner Ogden L. Mills, and was named Mills Field Municipal Airport. It remained Mills Field until 1931, when it was renamed San Francisco Municipal Airport. "Municipal" was replaced by "International" in 1955.

Starting in 1935, Pan American World Airways used the facility as the terminal for its "China Clipper" flying boat service across the Pacific Ocean. Domestic flights did not begin en masse, however, until World War II, when Oakland International Airport was taken over by the military and its passenger flights were moved to San Francisco.[4]

After the war, United Airlines took up residence at SFO, using the Pan Am terminal for its flights to Hawaii and other U.S. cities. In 1954, the airport's Central Passenger Terminal opened for passenger service.[5] Jet service to SFO began in the late 1950s: United built a large maintenance facility at San Francisco for its new Douglas DC-8s. In July 1959 the first jetway bridge installed in the United States. In 1974, a new terminal was built for domestic flights, and the CPT became an international terminal (known today as Terminal 2).

During the economic boom of the 1990s and the dot-com boom, SFO became the 6th busiest international airport in the world. However, since 2001, when the economic boom times ended, SFO has fallen back out of the top twenty.[2]

SFO has expanded continuously through the decades. Most recently, a new $1 billion international terminal opened in December 2000, replacing Terminal 2 as the international terminal.[5] This terminal contains a world-class aviation library and museum.[6] An extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to the airport opened on June 22 2003, allowing passengers to board trains directly at the airport's international terminal bound for San Francisco or points in the East Bay.[7] BART trains also offer a quick trip to the nearby Millbrae Station, where passengers can board Caltrain commuter rail trains bound for San Jose and the Peninsula and SamTrans bus service bound for the Peninsula. In 2003, the AirTrain shuttle system opened, conveying passengers between terminals, parking lots, the BART station, and the rental car center on small automatic trains.

San Francisco International Airport at night

It is not uncommon for SFO to experience significant delays in adverse weather, when only one of the airport's four runways can be used a time. Airport planners have floated proposals to extend the airport's runways further into San Francisco Bay in order to accommodate the next generation of super-jumbo aircraft. In order to expand further into the bay, the airport would be required by law to restore bay land elsewhere in the Bay Area to offset the fill. Such proposals have nevertheless met resistance with environmental groups, fearing damage to the habitat of animals living near the airport and bay water quality.

As such, SFO suffers from loss of service as many airlines, especially low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and ATA Airlines increasingly shift service to the other two major Bay Area airports, Oakland and San Jose, which continue to expand for the time being. However, SFO has superior land connections compared to Oakland and San Jose, being directly connected to U.S. Route 101, Interstate 380, and the BART system.

However, recovery at SFO has been evident. Icelandair commenced San Francisco-Reykjavík service on May 18 2005, and Spirit Airlines began daily service to Detroit on May 25 2006. In addition, Qantas began service from Sydney in March 2006, and began service to Vancouver on June 14 2006. United Airlines will expand service to Seoul from seasonal to year-round in October 2006, and, starting April 1 2007, reinstate non-stop service to Taipei and add more flights to Hong Kong.[8] United Airlines has also applied for flights from SFO to Guangzhou, China.[9] In addition, SFO will be the base of operations for Virgin America when the airline begins operations in late 2006.

Aircraft Noise Abatement

Main article: Aircraft noise
San Francisco International Airport in the last rays of an April day

SFO was one of the first airports to implement a Fly Quiet Program which grades individual air carriers on their performance on noise abatement procedures while flying in and out of SFO. The Jon C. Long Fly Quiet Program is an initiative implemented by the Aircraft Noise Abatement Office to encourage individual airlines to operate as quietly as possible at SFO. The program promotes a participatory approach in complying with the noise abatement procedures.

SFO was also one of the first U.S. airports to conduct a residential sound abatement retrofitting program. Established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the early 1980s, this program evaluated the cost effectiveness of reducing interior sound levels for homes in the vicinity of the airport, or more particularly homes within the 65 CNEL noise contour surface. The program made use of a noise computer model to predict improvement in specific residential interiors for a variety of different noise control strategies. This pilot program was conducted for a neighborhood in the city of South San Francisco, and success was achieved in all of the homes analyzed. The construction costs turned out to be modest, and the post-construction interior sound level tests confirmed the model predictions for noise abatement. To date over $137 million has been spent to insulate in excess of 15,000 homes throughout the neighboring cities of Daly City, Pacifica, San Bruno, and South San Francisco.[10]

See also: Noise mitigation § Aircraft noise abatement

Airlines and Terminals

The airport is composed of four terminals, in which two (Terminals 1 and 3) are domestic, one is international, and the fourth (Terminal 2) is under renovation. Within the framework of the terminals, the airport is split into seven concourses, in which four (Boarding Areas B, C, E, and F) are domestic, two (Boarding Areas A and G) are international, and one (Boarding Area D) is unused. Originally named the South, Central, and North Terminals, the domestic terminals were renamed Terminals 1, 2, and 3, respectively, after the new international terminal opened.

Note: All flights to Canada depart from the domestic terminals, and AirTran Airways and Spirit Airlines depart from International Terminal Boarding Area A.

Terminal 1

File:SFO Terminal 1.png
Terminal 1

Formerly known as the South Terminal, Terminal 1 consists of Boarding Area B and Boarding Area C. This terminal is utilized by all domestic airlines except United Airlines and American Airlines.

Rotunda A

Closed For Demolition

Boarding Area B (Gates 20-36)

Note: All Alaska Airlines domestic and Canadian flights depart and arrive at Terminal 1 Boarding Area B and all Alaska Airlines Mexican flights depart and arrive at International Terminal Boarding Area A.

Boarding Area C (Gates 40-48)

Interior of Boarding Area C

Note: All Northwest Airlines domestic flights leave from Terminal 1 Boarding Area C and all Northwest international flights depart and arrive at International Terminal Boarding Area A.

Terminal 2

Formerly known as the Central Terminal, in 1974 it became known as the International Terminal. Terminal 2 consists of Boarding Area D, which includes Gates 50-59. However, when the current international terminal opened in 2000, Terminal 2 was closed; it is currently undergoing indefinite renovation and serves as a walkway between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. The terminal will replace Rotunda A once renovation is complete. According to airport officials it is planned that Virgin America would open operations here when they start service. The SFO Medical Clinic is located on the Arrivals/Baggage Claim level (lower level).

Terminal 3

Terminal 3

Formerly known as the North Terminal, Terminal 3 is made up of Boarding Area E and Boarding Area F. This terminal is utilized by United Airlines and American Airlines, chiefly by United.

Boarding Area E (Gates 60-67) - American Airlines

  • American Airlines (Boston, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Honolulu, Kahului, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, St. Louis)

Boarding Area F (Gates 68-90) - United Airlines

Note: All United Airlines domestic and Canadian flights depart from Terminal 3 Boarding Area F and all United international flights depart and arrive at International Terminal Boarding Area G.

  • United Airlines (Anchorage [seasonal, year-round beginning September 6 2006], Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Burbank, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Kahului, Kona, Lihue, Los Angeles, New York-JFK, Newark, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland (OR), Reno/Tahoe, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle/Tacoma, Toronto [begins September 6 2006], Vancouver, Washington-Dulles)
    • Ted operated by United Airlines (Las Vegas, Ontario, Phoenix)
    • United Express operated by SkyWest (Albuquerque, Bakersfield, Boise, Burbank, Calgary, Chico, Colorado Springs, Crescent City, Edmonton, Eugene, Eureka, Fresno, Medford, Modesto, Monterey, Ontario, Orange County, Palm Springs, Portland (OR), Redding, Redmond/Bend, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tucson)

International Terminal

International Terminal
File:Sfointlterminal.jpg
Exterior view of the International Terminal

SFO's international terminal, which opened in December 2000, is the largest international terminal in North America, and the largest building in the world built on base isolators to protect against earthquakes.[11] It replaced Terminal 2, which served as SFO's international terminal until 2000. The boarding area has two levels, with shops and restaurants on the upper level and departure lounges on the lower level. Instead of the customary fast-food chains found at many other airports across the country, all restaurants in the International Terminal are leading restaurants in the Bay Area that have opened up fast-food versions of their establishments.

The airport BART station is also located in this terminal, at the garage leading to Boarding Area G.

All the gates in this terminal have two jetway bridges for use by Boeing 747 aircraft, which are frequent visitors to the terminal, as it is a major transpacific gateway. These gates are also designed in anticipation of the entry of service of the Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet.

For lack of space, the terminal was constructed on top of the airport's main access road at enormous expense; the advantage of this location was that it completed a continuous "ring" of terminals around the airport's main loading/unloading loop. The disadvantage was that the terminal required its own elaborate set of ramps to connect it with Highway 101.

The design and construction of the international terminal is owed to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Del Campo & Maru Architects, Michael Willis Associates (main terminal building), Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (Boarding Area G) & Gerson/Overstreet Architects (Boarding Area A).[11] The contracts were awarded after an architectural design competition.

Despite the terminal's name, AirTran Airways and Spirit Airlines serve domestic destinations using this terminal, in Boarding Area A, primarily due to lack of available gates in the domestic terminals.

Boarding Area A (Gates 1-12)

(south side, opposite Boarding Area G, next to Boarding Area B)

Boarding Area G (Gates 91-102)

(north side, opposite Boarding Area A, next to Boarding Area F. All international Star Alliance members' flights use Boarding Area G.)

Aircraft Incidents

On December 24 1964, Flying Tiger Line Flight 282, headed for New York City, crashed in the hills west of the airport, killing all 3 crewmembers aboard.[12]

On July 30 1971, Pan Am Flight 845, a Boeing 747 (registration: N747PA, name: Clipper America), struck navigational aids at the end of runway 1R on takeoff for Tokyo. The aircraft's landing gear was damaged, and the flight proceeded out over the Pacific Ocean to dump fuel in order to reduce weight for an emergency landing. Emergency services were deployed at the airport, and the plane returned and landed on runway 28R, using only the landing gear on one side of the aircraft. As the gear partially collapsed, the aircraft skidded into the dirt area next to the runway and came to a stop, but there was no fire. The aircraft was successfully evacuated using emergency slides. There were no fatalities among the 218 passengers and crew aboard, but there were a number of injuries, some serious. An investigation determined the cause of the accident to be erroneous information from the flight dispatcher to the crew regarding weight and runway length.[13]

References

  1. ^ North America's largest airports by number of passengers. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  2. ^ a b World's largest airports by number of passengers. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  3. ^ Wi-Fi available in all areas of SFO. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  4. ^ History of Oakland International Airport. Retrieved on August 17 2006.
  5. ^ a b Unveiling of the new International Terminal. From the San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  6. ^ San Francisco Airport Museum. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  7. ^ BART to SFO service begins. From the San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  8. ^ United Airlines Boosts Asia-Pacific Service. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  9. ^ United Airlines applies for flights to Guangzhou. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  10. ^ Residential Sound Insulation Program. Retrieved on August 7 2006.
  11. ^ a b International Terminal Fact Sheet. Retrieved on August 22 2006.
  12. ^ NTSB report on FTL 282. From the NTSB. Retrieved on August 9 2006.
  13. ^ Airdisaster.com PDF report on PAA 845. From the NTSB. Retrieved on August 9 2006.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Francisco International Airport.
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