A great airport to fly in and out of, but a royal pain in the butt for a local! I've flown out of Oakland for most of my life, mainly due to its convenience to get to. Getting to and from SFO is so much more difficult, even if you take public transit to the East Bay.
SFO will always be special for me since it is the airport where I took my first long-haul flight from, back in 2008 when I was 16, flying SFO-SYD on 90s United Battleship-Grey 747-400.
Our father and 3,000 other UAL employees came out from Chicago to open the newly-built UAL Maintenance Base, in the late 1940s after the war. We were all born on the Peninsula. Many years of flying UAL routes and plane spotting, and still plane spotting along the Bay Trail and Coyote Point today. I sit for an hour and watch the parade and ballet - ATC is amazing at what they do! The constantly changing winds, weather, and fog patterns create a unique palette every day. Truly one of, if not, the most beautiful airports in the world.
Flights to and from Europe give you some spectacular views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and SF, especially at dusk. The combination of hills, water and lights is magical.
Yes sir! Watching approaches to 28 from Bay View park took up a lot of my childhood, and now we take the train to Levi stadium. We’ve probably seen each other a dozen times 👍
I’ve flown through SFO multiple times on AirTran and United. Funny that Wine Country should be mentioned because I used to live in Santa Rosa and nearby Windsor having grown up between there and my other hometown of San Antonio, Texas. My Mom’s side of the family has been in Sonoma County since 1886 from Cork, Ireland. Larsen Winery used to be a Ranch that bore the family name which the road it’s on still does. My experiences flying into and out of SFO have been interesting to say the least. Sitting in the Plane on 1L waiting for Takeoff Clearance is a treat when seeing the Heavies coming in on approach to 28L and 28R is a treat. Back in 2014, we were on an Airbus A320-200 operated by United on its way to ORD to connect to our flight into CLT which is home. Soon as we lifted off, not even 3 seconds later, the shallow bank to the left for separation. There was a UA Boeing 757 on our right that banked right for said separation. It was perhaps the most important visit to see family because my Mother In Law came with us. It was her first and so far only time ever on the West Coast. Someday I hope she comes back with us.
Sfo is amazing for plane spotting. The night is also very cool to spot planes. I was in the Polaris lounge couple of months ago and it was fun to watch all of the Asia and South Pacific flight go out
Bayfront Park is a great location for plane spotting. The western end snugs right up against RWY 1R and its adjacent taxiway. Good luck finding parking, though. Only enough space for about 15 cars, while the hotel parking lot next to it sits mostly empty but is gated off.
Before 9/11, the plane spotting area parallel to the origin point of the two shorter west-to-east runways was heaven for plane spotters. For many, it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours viewing the planes so close one could see faces in the windows while listening to tower talk on the radio. The area was sealed off after 9/11 for obvious reasons.
I haven’t been to SFO in many years. But on my last departure (which will show how long ago it was), we started the takeoff in a TWA L-1011 TriStar, while on the parallel runway a TWA 727 was keeping up with us. Both planes lifted off at the same time, and we made a sweeping left turn, while the 727 turned to the right.
@@jyc313 Yes, I have grandchildren who tell me I’m old! I agree, and I wonder when that happened? Was there a date/year? I did a lot of flying during my career, but now it’s strictly for enjoyment. I try to visit Europe once or twice each year, usually using Newark Airport. The closest airport to my house is New York Stewart, but the passenger service has dwindled to almost nothing. But I did fly PLAY a few months ago, SWF-KEF-AMS, A-320, and it was enjoyable. One of my old friends is a captain for HA, so I’ve been out to Hawaii four times. But I’m Hawaii-ed out for one lifetime. Australia is simply too far for an old fart like me. In 1970, I took my first flight - on a DC-8. In 1973, I flew on a 707. But that was eons ago. The story I related above was a vacation that my older sister and I took to California. We flew to LAX on a 747, one of the first production models, and flew home on the L-1011. Heady days for a teenager.
While I do love SFO Airport, having worked there for several years. However, worth mentioning is how those runways operate during reduced visibility! With reduced visibility, expect major ATC delays on average of 3hrs, particularly for short flights such as SFO-SMF, SFO-LAX, SFO-SLC, etc. If you look out your bedroom window and you can’t see the sky and you’ve got a flight booked out of SFO, best to check with the airline to see if it’ll be on time (which it probably won’t).
I’ve experienced bad weather takeoffs towards the south, and landings from the east, going opposite the normal runway directions in clear conditions. Usually I’ll fly to and from EWR, where I eventually relocated to, as a SF born and raised native. Plane spotting used to occur at an observation parking lot off Millbrae Avenue, where you’re close enough to wave to cockpit staff. Now, people plane spot from next to the water by the SFO Marriott Hitel, since after 9/11. Still my favorite airport to fly to and from!
Arrivals from the north get a great view of the city and Golden Gate Bridge. 28 departures heading north and east fly up the beach and turn east near the GGB also giving great views. Inbound delays are very bad during poor winter weather as 2 planes can’t fly ILS approaches simultaneously with the runways only 750 feet apart.
SFO is amazing. From a passenger perspective its tight space and semi circular terminals means it doesn't take very long to get to any gate, and the close runways make for fast and easy taxi times compared to larger more speed out fields like DFW, ORD, or DEN.
As a United pilot I enjoyed the simultaneous approach and departures in SFO for many years. The only time a couple of “Heavy” jets are legally allowed to fly in a rather tight formation! ❤️
I had two unique experiences as a passenger last week at SFO. On a flight to YVR we took off from 01R and it seemed like we encroached on 01L a bit before the turn to the right. The plane taking off on 01L was slightly slower than us though, although I was a little concerned for wake turbulence. It ended up not being an issue, but I wondered if things were more tense in the cockpit. On the return journey there was a pretty big storm (which is rare for SFO) and we had to land on the 19s. I've only ever landed on the 28s before, so it's pretty neat lining up over OAK on the approach.
SFO is my home airport where I frequently go plane spotting, so this episode was of particular interest to me. The most surprising fact I learned from this video had to do with the route names related to vitaculture and surfing. My question is: Why do runways 1L and 1R never receive any landings? They seem only to be used for departing flights.
What are your go to spots for plane spotting? I’ve only been to the Sky Terrace and Bay Trail park. Also, the hills in front the 1s would make for a difficult approach, which is most likely the reason for them not being used for arrivals. To my knowledge, there are currently no instrument approaches on the 1s, and given the amount of infrastructure, it would be difficult to install any. It would be a waste to have the 1s be visual approach only, considering SFO conditions aren’t VFR most of the time. Oh, and the fact that planes usually use up more runway landing than taking off, it makes more sense to have the 28s for landing. The 19s sometimes get used for landings when they run reverse ops. I’m not aware of any takeoffs from the 19s in a while, but there are instrument departures for that, which requires a quick turn to the left to the departure end of the 10s.
By the way, SFO authorities are still studying the idea of moving Runway 19L/28R well out into San Francisco Bay and extending Runway 19R/28L to 12,000 feet. Now that Cargill has said they will turn the former salt evaporating ponds they own at the south end of San Francisco Bay back into natural marshland to expand a the parkland there, this very idea of relocating one of the runways to allow for 24-hour parallel landing and takeoff could actually happen.
@@danielkenber9823 ah, ok, so two separate runways. Now I get what he was saying. I didn’t know this was being discussed in San Francisco. That’s pretty interesting actually. It would be long taxi times though.
I lived near SFO for over 30 years. What's interesting is to go to Cuernavaca Park off of Hwy 35 in Millbrae during the rare weather when the planes are landing on runway 1. They come right overhead.
I love taking the Bart to the airport with my bike then use the airport bike lanes to get to the waterfront and watch planes take off and land, and there’s a great lobster roll place too
Based in SFO for three different airlines (Skywest, Virgin, and Alaska). You simply have to be awake and pay attention. Controllers are top top top notch and the operations, while complex at times, is my favourite base to call home.
I’ve been flying in and out of FSO for 18 years as a pilot, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. I always enjoyed the approaches to 28L/R and have had some amazing views of other aircraft. By the way, I’ve NEVER turned of my RA and I’ve never received an RA. I have no idea why some airlines turn this off. You are never on a collision course and the TCAS should stay quiet.
Kindly disregard my prev. comment (which I will keep up for transparency). According to a fellow commenter, the transponder to TA part of the vid is "completely false".
@@wildgurgs3614 that makes sense. I’ve heard about turning RA off once before, but that was also in a RUclips comment. In our company, we don’t turn it off for sure, but I know that companies have different procedures, so I wasn’t going to say anything.
I flew the E-120 turboprop in and out of SFO for five years. There's both a "Bay Tour" departure and a less known arrival through the Golden Gate bridge at 3,000' or 4000' through NorCal Approach. With the big props we could do a right downwind approach to 28R from 10,000' and with enough wind, make our base turn inside the San Mateo bridge. We disregarded any R.A. during visual approaches with the other aircraft in sight but it was a mandatory go around if IMC. One day, I did set off the TCAS aboard a Southwest 737 just ahead on approach to 28L as I rolled out of the base turn on our centerline. They bolted but I said, "Sorry Guys!" Sometimes, 8 legs a day with 3 or 4 SFO turns. I absolutely loved flying the Bro through SFO.
SFO based UAL pilot here. Our ops specs do allow us to switch the transponder to TA only. If you don't, and you're flying the FMS Bridge Visual to 28R while there's parallel traffic landing on 28L, you're almost guaranteed to get an RA while you're intercepting the final to 28R...and now you're going around. So that part of the video is perfectly accurate. In fact, I was quite impressed by the video -- I've been based in SFO for 10 years and I didn't catch a single error in the vid.
I had a great experience at SFO, especially at the B Gates where my Condor flight departed. The seating directly by the windows with a view of runways 1L and 1R was fantastic. The airport is modern and well-designed. My departure was absolutely stunning - I even have a video of it on my channel if anyone’s interested!
SFO is fantastic as a passenger. The lack of ILS approaches and plethora of TCAS RA’s on approach can be tough for pilots with strict company procedures.
@ Yes they have ILS capability, but often the controllers absolutely hate when you request it on a visual day and make you go on indefinite delay vectors until they feel like squeezing you in for an ILS approach.
@@shanemooon Well, your arrival slot is mapped out far in advance. If you don't want that slot then yeah, you may have to wait until the next available slot. It's a busy airport, should they delay everyone else to accommodate you?
@ That’s not the point. It’s not that they don’t want the slot. They need an ILS approach for their slot. Different things. Certain airline’s procedures require ILS in situations when others may not. (night time) So the pilot requests an ILS approach and they’re given a long hold to make it work because SFO has very little ability to handle an ILS approach when operating in VMC during busy arrival times. So it can cause issues with indefinite holds and little fuel after coming across the ocean or country. Other large airports handle this just fine.
Can you believe that Mumbai CSMI airport with just one operational runway handles more passenger traffic than SFO😮 with aircraft movements being 85% of what SFO handles
I don't like SFO at all. I live in the East Bay, so usually use OAK. I prefer smaller airports. I had to wait at SFO outside security for an arrival once, and there was to place to get something to eat. I saw a sign directing me to food, so followed it. It was about a half-mile walk and there was only a coffee stand there. Maybe it is better now, but I still won't use it unless I have to.
They ought to name some way-points that would honor Tower of Power; i.e. WTSHP(What Is Hip), YNGMN(You're Still a Young Man), SOLVX(Soul Vaccination), etc....
As a frequent business flyer, I learned to avoid SFO due to weather-related flight delays, which are a severe problem much of the year. OAK is much more reliable. When checking bags, OAK is faster than SFO at both ends: checking in and retrieving at baggage claim. Time is money for a business traveler, and when you’re taking 20 to 40 flights a year, all those delays really add up.
I've flown into SFO for the first time in September 2024, the immigration was absolutely awful, huge queues which took 2 hours to clear. Dread to think what its like during the holidays!
That's an unusually long time. Been there multiple times both as a passenger and meeting someone. Never spent more than than an hour clearing, and some of the first-offloading passengers are in the lobby sooner than that.
I just came back from Hong Kong/Taiwan a few weeks ago and I went through Customs & Border Control in a blink of an eye! Of course, me traveling only with a carry-on bag and a personal bag definitely helped. 🙂
You must have arrived on a rare but bad day. I’ve cleared immigration there probably 20 plus times and never took longer than 25 min. I will specifically pick SFO to clear, over LAX.
I remember when San Francisco International Airport just had two runways. That was in the 1980’s. San Francisco International AirPort was the first airport that I flew with Delta Air Lines with their Lockheed Tristar aircraft.
Prolly the most scenic, efficient yet challenging, and rewarding experiences flying out of sfo . United should be glad that is their hub strategically wise . Now if only the rest of San Fran can be a place people can revere again without the politics and homeless every where
At 0:28 host states that SFO is one of the largest international gateways in the USA. That is not remotely true. Maybe host is not in the USA, so has no idea about stats in USA. LAX has 4 real runways, Chicago’s ORD has 8 real runways. Atlanta, Dallas and Denver are in top 10 in worldwide traffic.
SFO seems to handle the bulk of long hauls for the western half of the US though, not just short frequent hops to Canada and the Caribbean. For as far back as I can remember, the vast majority of my trans-Pacific flights went through SFO.
What's a "real" runway? Are you asserting that SFO has "fake" runways? And SFO is 7th in passenger traffic, so yes, it is one of the busiest. What a stupid comment.
Flown into SFO hundreds of times as a captain and FO. The transponder thing is true, and if you don’t switch to TA mode you risk a RA (resolution advisory) which you cannot procedurally ignore. The change to this is that recently some carriers have changed their rule sets on the allowance of using TA only, which has increased the breakout rate tremendously.
@@markg7963I’ve flown into FSO as a Captain since 2005 and I’ve never turned RA off. And nobody in our company does. I’ve flown into SFO sometimes 3 or more times a week and never had an RA. As a matter of fact, none of our airplanes have ever gotten an RA. So I don’t understand why companies do this. It’s not necessarily and actually less safe. When two airplanes fly parallel and their paths don’t cross, there will never be an RA.
@@markg7963also, you are allowed to “procedurally ignore” an RA. The FAA makes it very clear that TCAS is a back up to visual separation. So, if you have eyes on the traffic, there is no requirement to follow an RA. Now, having said that, I know that some companies require the pilots to follow an RA in every situation. Of all the people I know, who fly for different companies, it seems about 50/50.
@ Evidently my company is one that doesn’t allow optional compliance with the RA, the idea is that you may have visual contact with another aircraft that isn’t the conflict aircraft and make it worse. Just looked at our 10-7 SFO page, it does allow RA, but VMC and captains judgement. I think our union was suggesting not to do it? but I’ve seen countless unnecessary go arounds because of RA s coming in on the 28s. Personally in SFO I’m a fan of TA only. Especially if approach has assigned you a “dance partner”. And you clearly have them in sight to begin with.
@@markg7963 I get it. Some companies don’t allow that. And I understand that you need to have the right aircraft in sight. Now, having said that, think about how strange this sound though. Your company doesn’t allow you to ignore an RA if it were to go off during an approach on the 28s, but you can turn it off and now you are allowed to continue. That’s backwards in my opinion. In all my years going into SFO, with “dance partners”, I’ve never had an RA. And neither did any of our airplanes, as far as I know. You shouldn’t get an RA if airplane paths don’t converge.
This is my most favourite airport in the world!
my home airport!
@@WannaBeUnitedPilot SAME not rlly mine is Sjc but SFO is better
A great airport to fly in and out of, but a royal pain in the butt for a local! I've flown out of Oakland for most of my life, mainly due to its convenience to get to. Getting to and from SFO is so much more difficult, even if you take public transit to the East Bay.
@@WannaBeUnitedPilotused to be mine
@ not as hard to get to it from the Peninsula then from the north or east bay!
Love calling it my home airport. Definitely the best major airport in America
SFO will always be special for me since it is the airport where I took my first long-haul flight from, back in 2008 when I was 16, flying SFO-SYD on 90s United Battleship-Grey 747-400.
Our father and 3,000 other UAL employees came out from Chicago to open the newly-built UAL Maintenance Base, in the late 1940s after the war. We were all born on the Peninsula. Many years of flying UAL routes and plane spotting, and still plane spotting along the Bay Trail and Coyote Point today. I sit for an hour and watch the parade and ballet - ATC is amazing at what they do! The constantly changing winds, weather, and fog patterns create a unique palette every day. Truly one of, if not, the most beautiful airports in the world.
Day in the life busy career coworkers budget schedule team communication
Flights to and from Europe give you some spectacular views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and SF, especially at dusk. The combination of hills, water and lights is magical.
Flights departing to the South from Oakland give great views as well, overflying the bridge and the whole SF city.
We are lucky to have such a beautiful airport and landscape and traffic pattern all in one. A true planespotter’s destination!
I feel so privileged to have SFO my home airport. I plane spot at SFO regularly. There is always something interesting to see each time
So lucky to have grown up in the bay as an aviation fan and rail fan.
Yes sir! Watching approaches to 28 from Bay View park took up a lot of my childhood, and now we take the train to Levi stadium. We’ve probably seen each other a dozen times 👍
I love my home airport!! So well designed and always fun to watch planes at SFO!!
Happy to have this as my home airport!
SFO is the best ❤ they’ve worked so hard in recent years and it’s paying off.
I love living in the flight path of SFO. It is nice to see the planes fly over the ocean.
I’ve flown through SFO multiple times on AirTran and United. Funny that Wine Country should be mentioned because I used to live in Santa Rosa and nearby Windsor having grown up between there and my other hometown of San Antonio, Texas. My Mom’s side of the family has been in Sonoma County since 1886 from Cork, Ireland. Larsen Winery used to be a Ranch that bore the family name which the road it’s on still does.
My experiences flying into and out of SFO have been interesting to say the least. Sitting in the Plane on 1L waiting for Takeoff Clearance is a treat when seeing the Heavies coming in on approach to 28L and 28R is a treat. Back in 2014, we were on an Airbus A320-200 operated by United on its way to ORD to connect to our flight into CLT which is home. Soon as we lifted off, not even 3 seconds later, the shallow bank to the left for separation. There was a UA Boeing 757 on our right that banked right for said separation. It was perhaps the most important visit to see family because my Mother In Law came with us. It was her first and so far only time ever on the West Coast. Someday I hope she comes back with us.
Thank you for that last clip of Terminal 2 and those Virgin America tails. Miss that airline!
SFO is my home airport! Enjoy everything about it which includes plane spotting and its location on the bay!
The food in SFO is pretty good too.
Sfo is amazing for plane spotting. The night is also very cool to spot planes. I was in the Polaris lounge couple of months ago and it was fun to watch all of the Asia and South Pacific flight go out
From a pilot - Thanks!
Well done, and fun video.
Bayfront Park is a great location for plane spotting. The western end snugs right up against RWY 1R and its adjacent taxiway. Good luck finding parking, though. Only enough space for about 15 cars, while the hotel parking lot next to it sits mostly empty but is gated off.
yeah i go Bayfront park all the time, but I usually go on the weekdays not weekends, weekdays its easier to find parking
Before 9/11, the plane spotting area parallel to the origin point of the two shorter west-to-east runways was heaven for plane spotters. For many, it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours viewing the planes so close one could see faces in the windows while listening to tower talk on the radio. The area was sealed off after 9/11 for obvious reasons.
The Sky Terrace offers a nice view.
I haven’t been to SFO in many years. But on my last departure (which will show how long ago it was), we started the takeoff in a TWA L-1011 TriStar, while on the parallel runway a TWA 727 was keeping up with us. Both planes lifted off at the same time, and we made a sweeping left turn, while the 727 turned to the right.
bro, TWA bankrupted 23 years ago...
@ Yes, this was 1974. 50 years, bro.
Holy crap haha, that is a long time ago. Special times to be flying, albeit planes were less reliable back then. Where do u fly out of most nowadays?
@@jyc313 Yes, I have grandchildren who tell me I’m old! I agree, and I wonder when that happened? Was there a date/year? I did a lot of flying during my career, but now it’s strictly for enjoyment. I try to visit Europe once or twice each year, usually using Newark Airport. The closest airport to my house is New York Stewart, but the passenger service has dwindled to almost nothing. But I did fly PLAY a few months ago, SWF-KEF-AMS, A-320, and it was enjoyable. One of my old friends is a captain for HA, so I’ve been out to Hawaii four times. But I’m Hawaii-ed out for one lifetime. Australia is simply too far for an old fart like me. In 1970, I took my first flight - on a DC-8. In 1973, I flew on a 707. But that was eons ago. The story I related above was a vacation that my older sister and I took to California. We flew to LAX on a 747, one of the first production models, and flew home on the L-1011. Heady days for a teenager.
While I do love SFO Airport, having worked there for several years. However, worth mentioning is how those runways operate during reduced visibility! With reduced visibility, expect major ATC delays on average of 3hrs, particularly for short flights such as SFO-SMF, SFO-LAX, SFO-SLC, etc.
If you look out your bedroom window and you can’t see the sky and you’ve got a flight booked out of SFO, best to check with the airline to see if it’ll be on time (which it probably won’t).
I’ve experienced bad weather takeoffs towards the south, and landings from the east, going opposite the normal runway directions in clear conditions. Usually I’ll fly to and from EWR, where I eventually relocated to, as a SF born and raised native. Plane spotting used to occur at an observation parking lot off Millbrae Avenue, where you’re close enough to wave to cockpit staff. Now, people plane spot from next to the water by the SFO Marriott Hitel, since after 9/11. Still my favorite airport to fly to and from!
Such a fascinating airport if you ask me. It is officially entered my bucket list right now.
Arrivals from the north get a great view of the city and Golden Gate Bridge. 28 departures heading north and east fly up the beach and turn east near the GGB also giving great views. Inbound delays are very bad during poor winter weather as 2 planes can’t fly ILS approaches simultaneously with the runways only 750 feet apart.
No ILS on 28L either
@@atthemoment1428L has an ILS. So does 28R.
This was a surprisingly good video. Well done
SFO is amazing. From a passenger perspective its tight space and semi circular terminals means it doesn't take very long to get to any gate, and the close runways make for fast and easy taxi times compared to larger more speed out fields like DFW, ORD, or DEN.
As a United pilot I enjoyed the simultaneous approach and departures in SFO for many years.
The only time a couple of “Heavy” jets are legally allowed to fly in a rather tight formation! ❤️
SFO , great airport . Spectacular views of Golden Gate Bridge . Flew in and out with LH .
This is so cool! Basically plane spotter heaven!
Love this airport. Hope to visit in person at some point.
Flew into and out of this airport a lot in the early 80s as a kid.
i live 10 mile away and can see 28's aproach from py balcony best home plane spotting ever
My mom used to work here and took me up to the top of the new control tower. Super dope
I had two unique experiences as a passenger last week at SFO. On a flight to YVR we took off from 01R and it seemed like we encroached on 01L a bit before the turn to the right. The plane taking off on 01L was slightly slower than us though, although I was a little concerned for wake turbulence. It ended up not being an issue, but I wondered if things were more tense in the cockpit.
On the return journey there was a pretty big storm (which is rare for SFO) and we had to land on the 19s. I've only ever landed on the 28s before, so it's pretty neat lining up over OAK on the approach.
SFO is my home airport where I frequently go plane spotting, so this episode was of particular interest to me. The most surprising fact I learned from this video had to do with the route names related to vitaculture and surfing. My question is: Why do runways 1L and 1R never receive any landings? They seem only to be used for departing flights.
What are your go to spots for plane spotting? I’ve only been to the Sky Terrace and Bay Trail park. Also, the hills in front the 1s would make for a difficult approach, which is most likely the reason for them not being used for arrivals. To my knowledge, there are currently no instrument approaches on the 1s, and given the amount of infrastructure, it would be difficult to install any. It would be a waste to have the 1s be visual approach only, considering SFO conditions aren’t VFR most of the time. Oh, and the fact that planes usually use up more runway landing than taking off, it makes more sense to have the 28s for landing. The 19s sometimes get used for landings when they run reverse ops. I’m not aware of any takeoffs from the 19s in a while, but there are instrument departures for that, which requires a quick turn to the left to the departure end of the 10s.
we love SFO !
By the way, SFO authorities are still studying the idea of moving Runway 19L/28R well out into San Francisco Bay and extending Runway 19R/28L to 12,000 feet. Now that Cargill has said they will turn the former salt evaporating ponds they own at the south end of San Francisco Bay back into natural marshland to expand a the parkland there, this very idea of relocating one of the runways to allow for 24-hour parallel landing and takeoff could actually happen.
19R/28L is not a runway that can exist.
I think his thought is the oft cited study to spread both runways apart; 28R to the north and 19L east and south.
@@danielkenber9823 ah, ok, so two separate runways. Now I get what he was saying. I didn’t know this was being discussed in San Francisco. That’s pretty interesting actually. It would be long taxi times though.
I lived near SFO for over 30 years. What's interesting is to go to Cuernavaca Park off of Hwy 35 in Millbrae during the rare weather when the planes are landing on runway 1. They come right overhead.
YYZ is also the same, Pearson airport tends to have some nice views from the approaches and departures
Some day in musical waypoints, JFRSN for San Francisco’s Jefferson Airplane.
Landed there a couple days ago. It's always very navigable.
I love taking the Bart to the airport with my bike then use the airport bike lanes to get to the waterfront and watch planes take off and land, and there’s a great lobster roll place too
One of my fav airports, top 5 easy, but nothing like Chicago O'Hare for me, especially at night 😃😁
Based in SFO for three different airlines (Skywest, Virgin, and Alaska). You simply have to be awake and pay attention. Controllers are top top top notch and the operations, while complex at times, is my favourite base to call home.
Virgin was gone 5 years ago buddy.
I’ve been flying in and out of FSO for 18 years as a pilot, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. I always enjoyed the approaches to 28L/R and have had some amazing views of other aircraft.
By the way, I’ve NEVER turned of my RA and I’ve never received an RA. I have no idea why some airlines turn this off. You are never on a collision course and the TCAS should stay quiet.
Airlines probably trust the KSFO controllers to issue a breakout instruction if need be
Kindly disregard my prev. comment (which I will keep up for transparency). According to a fellow commenter, the transponder to TA part of the vid is "completely false".
@@wildgurgs3614 that makes sense. I’ve heard about turning RA off once before, but that was also in a RUclips comment.
In our company, we don’t turn it off for sure, but I know that companies have different procedures, so I wasn’t going to say anything.
I flew the E-120 turboprop in and out of SFO for five years. There's both a "Bay Tour" departure and a less known arrival through the Golden Gate bridge at 3,000' or 4000' through NorCal Approach. With the big props we could do a right downwind approach to 28R from 10,000' and with enough wind, make our base turn inside the San Mateo bridge. We disregarded any R.A. during visual approaches with the other aircraft in sight but it was a mandatory go around if IMC. One day, I did set off the TCAS aboard a Southwest 737 just ahead on approach to 28L as I rolled out of the base turn on our centerline. They bolted but I said, "Sorry Guys!" Sometimes, 8 legs a day with 3 or 4 SFO turns. I absolutely loved flying the Bro through SFO.
SFO based UAL pilot here. Our ops specs do allow us to switch the transponder to TA only. If you don't, and you're flying the FMS Bridge Visual to 28R while there's parallel traffic landing on 28L, you're almost guaranteed to get an RA while you're intercepting the final to 28R...and now you're going around. So that part of the video is perfectly accurate. In fact, I was quite impressed by the video -- I've been based in SFO for 10 years and I didn't catch a single error in the vid.
Happy for my 3rd home airport being covered
I had a great experience at SFO, especially at the B Gates where my Condor flight departed. The seating directly by the windows with a view of runways 1L and 1R was fantastic. The airport is modern and well-designed. My departure was absolutely stunning - I even have a video of it on my channel if anyone’s interested!
Flown there a couple times. Took off 1R simultaneous to a 1L. That was a rush all by itself
missed one! TRUKN is a reference to the Grateful Dead's "Truckin'" song...
That first shot of the airport from the sky made it look like Laguardia lol
Love my home airport! ❤
SFO is fantastic as a passenger.
The lack of ILS approaches and plethora of TCAS RA’s on approach can be tough for pilots with strict company procedures.
Lack of ILS approaches? Both 28L and 28R have ILS, RNAV and charted visual approaches.
@ Yes they have ILS capability, but often the controllers absolutely hate when you request it on a visual day and make you go on indefinite delay vectors until they feel like squeezing you in for an ILS approach.
@@shanemooon Well, your arrival slot is mapped out far in advance. If you don't want that slot then yeah, you may have to wait until the next available slot. It's a busy airport, should they delay everyone else to accommodate you?
@
That’s not the point. It’s not that they don’t want the slot. They need an ILS approach for their slot. Different things.
Certain airline’s procedures require ILS in situations when others may not. (night time) So the pilot requests an ILS approach and they’re given a long hold to make it work because SFO has very little ability to handle an ILS approach when operating in VMC during busy arrival times.
So it can cause issues with indefinite holds and little fuel after coming across the ocean or country.
Other large airports handle this just fine.
Pretty cool that I live like 45 mins away!
I wanna visit if one day
It looks cool, but, if it's safe to do this at SFO then why not just allow it everywhere? Or does SFO get preferential treatment for some reason.
Continue these airport videos please
7:49 he is on the taxi way
Go around Air Canada 759
My friend was on 759
Can you believe that Mumbai CSMI airport with just one operational runway handles more passenger traffic than SFO😮 with aircraft movements being 85% of what SFO handles
i mean... mumbai is a much bigger city than san francisco
I'm seeing two runways at the Mumbai airport. Is one not operational?
@@fixpacifica apparently they only operate 1 at a time
Best place in the US for plane spotting
I don't like SFO at all. I live in the East Bay, so usually use OAK. I prefer smaller airports. I had to wait at SFO outside security for an arrival once, and there was to place to get something to eat. I saw a sign directing me to food, so followed it. It was about a half-mile walk and there was only a coffee stand there. Maybe it is better now, but I still won't use it unless I have to.
They ought to name some way-points that would honor Tower of Power; i.e. WTSHP(What Is Hip), YNGMN(You're Still a Young Man), SOLVX(Soul Vaccination), etc....
this is my local airport, and once, I got delayed because there were too many landing aircraft😂
SFO has an exception....Oh, of course they do. We will never know what favors were done to get that in place.
Just the simple fact that arrivals rates would be crippled if they couldn't do side-bys.
That’s my airport 🗣️🗣️
As a frequent business flyer, I learned to avoid SFO due to weather-related flight delays, which are a severe problem much of the year. OAK is much more reliable. When checking bags, OAK is faster than SFO at both ends: checking in and retrieving at baggage claim. Time is money for a business traveler, and when you’re taking 20 to 40 flights a year, all those delays really add up.
Iwas there in October planespotting on the waterfront in Burlingame. I have videos on my channel 😊
Retired ATC NCT
AREA B
The San Francisco airport is actually located in the San Mateo country. But SF city bought the land there and make it part of SF. WTF?!?
TCAS is TCAS. Transponder is transponder. Transponder is not TCAS and does not call out RAs. TCAS does that.
To whoever is the ATC both VATSIM and Real life, I tip my hat to you. 🎩
I've flown into SFO for the first time in September 2024, the immigration was absolutely awful, huge queues which took 2 hours to clear. Dread to think what its like during the holidays!
That's an unusually long time. Been there multiple times both as a passenger and meeting someone. Never spent more than than an hour clearing, and some of the first-offloading passengers are in the lobby sooner than that.
That is unlucky! I've arrived at SFO 2 years in a row in the late morning around mid June and immigration was only 10 minutes!
I just came back from Hong Kong/Taiwan a few weeks ago and I went through Customs & Border Control in a blink of an eye! Of course, me traveling only with a carry-on bag and a personal bag definitely helped. 🙂
@@Sacto1654 Baggage claim is after border control so it wouldn't matter if you have check-in luggage or not.
You must have arrived on a rare but bad day. I’ve cleared immigration there probably 20 plus times and never took longer than 25 min.
I will specifically pick SFO to clear, over LAX.
LaGuardia (layout) on steroids.
I remember when San Francisco International Airport just had two runways. That was in the 1980’s. San Francisco International AirPort was the first airport that I flew with Delta Air Lines with their Lockheed Tristar aircraft.
SFO has had its current configuration of 4 runways since 1948.
SFO needs to have way points named after Metallica and Joe Satriani
❤❤❤
Cool 🇩🇪
The premium lounges at SFO are underwhelming. If I had to pay for access I would be pissed.
Could be worse. Could be LAX.
Prolly the most scenic, efficient yet challenging, and rewarding experiences flying out of sfo . United should be glad that is their hub strategically wise . Now if only the rest of San Fran can be a place people can revere again without the politics and homeless every where
So tha kful I can go less than 45 minutes driving to watch the insanity!
At 0:28 host states that SFO is one of the largest international gateways in the USA. That is not remotely true. Maybe host is not in the USA, so has no idea about stats in USA.
LAX has 4 real runways, Chicago’s ORD has 8 real runways. Atlanta, Dallas and Denver are in top 10 in worldwide traffic.
SFO seems to handle the bulk of long hauls for the western half of the US though, not just short frequent hops to Canada and the Caribbean. For as far back as I can remember, the vast majority of my trans-Pacific flights went through SFO.
What's a "real" runway? Are you asserting that SFO has "fake" runways? And SFO is 7th in passenger traffic, so yes, it is one of the busiest. What a stupid comment.
The transponder change to TA only is completely false. Not sure where you came up with this…
Flown into SFO hundreds of times as a captain and FO. The transponder thing is true, and if you don’t switch to TA mode you risk a RA (resolution advisory) which you cannot procedurally ignore. The change to this is that recently some carriers have changed their rule sets on the allowance of using TA only, which has increased the breakout rate tremendously.
@@markg7963I’ve flown into FSO as a Captain since 2005 and I’ve never turned RA off. And nobody in our company does. I’ve flown into SFO sometimes 3 or more times a week and never had an RA.
As a matter of fact, none of our airplanes have ever gotten an RA.
So I don’t understand why companies do this. It’s not necessarily and actually less safe.
When two airplanes fly parallel and their paths don’t cross, there will never be an RA.
@@markg7963also, you are allowed to “procedurally ignore” an RA. The FAA makes it very clear that TCAS is a back up to visual separation. So, if you have eyes on the traffic, there is no requirement to follow an RA.
Now, having said that, I know that some companies require the pilots to follow an RA in every situation. Of all the people I know, who fly for different companies, it seems about 50/50.
@ Evidently my company is one that doesn’t allow optional compliance with the RA, the idea is that you may have visual contact with another aircraft that isn’t the conflict aircraft and make it worse. Just looked at our 10-7 SFO page, it does allow RA, but VMC and captains judgement. I think our union was suggesting not to do it? but I’ve seen countless unnecessary go arounds because of RA s coming in on the 28s. Personally in SFO I’m a fan of TA only. Especially if approach has assigned you a “dance partner”. And you clearly have them in sight to begin with.
@@markg7963 I get it. Some companies don’t allow that. And I understand that you need to have the right aircraft in sight.
Now, having said that, think about how strange this sound though. Your company doesn’t allow you to ignore an RA if it were to go off during an approach on the 28s, but you can turn it off and now you are allowed to continue. That’s backwards in my opinion.
In all my years going into SFO, with “dance partners”, I’ve never had an RA. And neither did any of our airplanes, as far as I know. You shouldn’t get an RA if airplane paths don’t converge.
The traffic at SFO is terrible; it can extend all the way to hwy exit in holidays. In my opinion that’s a top problem for SFO to improve.
doesn't it depend on the day & time??
SFO is my home airport and I've never had problems with traffic.
The road network in and out definitely could use some work.
Or just get dropped off a couple BART stops away and take the train in 🚇
This really sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. And then we'll find out that the FAA didn't do their due diligence when giving the exemption
first
Such an accomplishment. You legend!