The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that it has just banned pilots from performing an iconic parallel landing approach at San Francisco International Airport in which two aircraft come into land side-by-side on the airport’s parallel runways.
Until a couple of days ago, it was a common sight to see two aircraft seemingly flying right next to one another as they made their final approach to land at the same time on SFO’s East-West Runways (officially known as Runway 28R and 28L).
But now, that practice has been unexpectedly banned, and the FAA is warning passengers that flight delays should be expected.
A spokesperson for the FAA put the reason behind the decision down to construction work on SFO’s other two runways that run parallel from North to South. The repaving project will take around six months to complete.
In a statement, the FAA told us:
“San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will experience some flight delays due to a runway repaving project and an FAA safety measure.”
“The FAA safety measure prohibits flights from making side-by-side approaches to SFO’s parallel east-west runways in clear weather when the pilots acknowledge having the other aircraft in sight.”
“It requires staggered approaches, with one aircraft offset from the aircraft on the parallel runway. The FAA never allowed side-by-side approaches in bad weather.”
Unfortunately, the agency spokesperson confirmed that this means that some flight delays are anticipated because the number of aircraft that can land at SFO per hour has to be reduced – known as the airport’s arrival flow rate.
The spokesperson added: “The FAA is exploring ways to safely increase the airport arrival rate.”
I’m hearing unsubstantiated rumors that parallel visuals are no longer allowed at SFO. I suspected runway construction, but that’s not it…rumor says permanently over.
— KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨✈️ B-737 Wrangler (@MCCCANM) March 31, 2026
Also hearing they will permanently reduce the arrival capacity.
Can anyone verify? https://t.co/PNuuldwQBJ
News of the side-by-side landing ban at SFO first came to light when a commercial airline pilot wrote in a post on X: “I’m hearing unsubstantiated rumors that parallel visuals are no longer allowed at SFO. I suspected runway construction, but that’s not it…rumor says permanently over.”
That post was then confirmed by trusted aviation insider JonNYC on X, who wrote: “My first inquiry is saying, confirmed, this procedure is no longer allowed at SFO.”
A spokesperson for San Francisco International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The good news is that while delays could occur over the next six months, the runway construction should be over before the end of the year. Unfortunately, the end of side-by-side landings will be here to stay even after the repaving project is over.
The FAA isn’t committing that this will just be a short term issue during construction…they are aiming to make this permanent and it will cripple SFO as an international gateway.