Construction at SFO to cause weekend flight delays, cancellations

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KGO) -- There were more delays and cancellations at SFO Monday caused by a major runway construction project that proved to be a real headache over the weekend.

More than a 1,000 flights have been delayed or canclled because of the work, leaving many air travelers frustrated.

Runway 28L was closed down for maintenance and essentially reduced available runways for landing by 50 percent. That means, 50 percent fewer planes were able to land.

Airlines were forced to delay and cancel flights because of the construction work being done and passengers told ABC7 News they were fed up. "Seven hours is a completely unacceptable delay," passenger Erica Zeidenberg said.

RELATED: Runway maintenance prompts cancellations at SFO

Zeidenberg is fuming because she didn't find out about the construction delay at SFO until she checked in at Cincinati Airport. "Nothing you could do. The plane was sitting there at the gate the whole time, so frustrating," Zeidenberg said.

Two weeks ago, SFO started a nine-week closure of runway 28L from Friday night until Monday at noon.

Over the weekend, more than 1,000 flights had to be delayed or canceled as crews repaved the runway and installed new LED lights down the center. "Our goal is to provide the information to airlines and to let them decide whether they want to reduce their flight schedule in advance or whether they want to cancel flights. It's really an airline decision," SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel said.

Travel blog crankyflier.com released a statement saying in part: "There must have been some disconnect between airlines and the airport or the airlines would have done more proactive outreach."

However, Southwest said they knew this was coming and released a statement saying: "We prepped for it and we are communicating with our customers when irregular operations impact their travel plans."

Travelers said they got vague answers and long waits to get home. "We never got a clear picture of why the flight was canceled other than an air traffic control problem," passenger Linda Okenquist said.

There will be six more weekends like this coming up at SFO between now and mid-June, which will cause delays and cancellations due to construction.

Anyone planning to fly out of SFO over the next couple of months are advised to check their airline website for updates.

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