Beginning Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration is introducing the new "staggered parallel landings" procedure in an effort to get more flights on the ground each hour at SFO.
Delays have been an ongoing issue since March, when two runways closed for construction and the FAA paused parallel landings.
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In March, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said officials decided that SFO's longstanding practice of landing two planes at the same time on closely spaced parallel runways that are just 750 feet apart - along with congested airspace - was too dangerous. He could not say why the practice had been allowed.
Those changes dropped the hourly clear-weather arrival rate from 54 down to 36.
Now the FAA has changed course, saying that the new staggered parallel landings will speed up arrivals while ensuring safety by keeping one plane ahead of the other.
Airport officials said arrival capacity could increase to 42 flights per hour by the end of August.
The airport will revert to the existing procedure when there's low visibility or weather impacts.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.