Originally Posted by C-5Crewdog

Doubt it all you want, but the primary reason is to avoid the jet blast at gate 79. The UAX aircraft positioned at gate 79 is parked directly aft and to the left of any plane at gate 80. When pulling into gate 80, because of the angled turn in, pilots have to apply assymetrical power (high N1 on the left side engines). Because of this technique, there have been prior incidents of Foriegn Object Damage to aircraft parked at gate 79. The associated risk to customers, airport personnel and equipment mandate that large aircraft arriving gate 80 are towed-in.