Originally Posted by
DaviddesJ
Smaller planes usually take off on 1L or 1R (to the NNE). However, larger planes usually take off on 28L or 28R (to the NW), because those runways are longer. If you only fly 737/757/A320 class planes out of SFO, then you would rarely take off on 28L/R. But it happens every day in normal operations. The UA plane that was waiting to take off on 28L was a 747-400.
It is about domestic vs international long haul, not small vs big.
As everytime when I flew UA SFO-ORD on a 763 or 777, it used 1R and not 28L or 28R.