SoCal-SFO Delay Nightmares
 

I feel like there must be some kind of conspiracy to give intra-California flights lower takeoff/landing priority into SFO. I have faced absolutely pervasive and severe delays from much of SoCal (LAX, SAN, SNA) into SFO. Whereas in the last five years of flying 100K miles per year on various carriers, I've had about 5 flights into SFO delayed for ATC reasons when flying in from an airport not on the west coast.

I end up having to fly WN most of the time within California because they have such good flight schedules, but their delays (especially LAX-SFO) seem to be getting increasingly bad (regularly in the 3-4 hour neighborhood) over the last couple months. I assume ATC is ATC but can anyone say if the delays are also of this magnitude on other carriers?

Fortunately I have the flexibility to change my flights easily since I nearly always book business select. And yes, I could fly in and out of OAK more often. My budget is often enough that I could book first class on another carrier, though.

when the fog rolls in and affects SFO landings, it's much easier to tell an incoming flight on the ground in So CA to hold and not take off than it is to tell airborne flights from Asia or wherever to circle or divert to another airport.

This is a condition affecting SFO more than other airports, and is due to the frequent condition of low clouds/fog/drizzle combined with parallel runways too close for simultaneous approaches during these weather episodes, and there's a related thread in the San Francisco forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/san-f...thers-not.html

I'll move this to that forum for more discussion. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

For regional flights to/from the SF area it's worth considering the other nearby airports-- SJC, OAK, or even SMF depending on where you go once you're on the ground. They are much less prone to weather delays. Southwest offers lots of flights between these airports and SoCal.

Agree with darthbimmer. When I fly to LA, I always fly out of SJC (or OAK) because SFO to LA flights are almost never on time.

My flights TO SoCal have always been fine. It's the ones on the way back that area always a problem. I think maybe I'll just start booking SFO-SoCal-OAK...

OAK has more options than SFO (I think?) to LAX, mostly thanks to WN. Also, BUR can be a good option with WN if it's close to your LA destination.

Also, also, assuming you live close to BART, the new connector from Colisseum station to OAK will make that a better option.

Discussed to death, but basically, it is in fact a conspiracy.

Lets use United as an example. United gets (and I am totaly making this up) 20 flights per hour into SFO. When the Fog roles in, they can only bring in 10 planes. So they cancel all the commuter flights from LAX and DEN, and leave the BIG planes to land at SFO. If its really bad, sometimes you get to hop on a 757 / 767 thats coming in from "somewhere else" that lays over at LAX and then continues on to SFO. Or, they will cancel 4x LAX-SFO flights on RJ's and send everyone up to SFO on a 747. (10 hours late of course).

Southwest does not have this flexibility. They only have 737s and they only fly short haul. Plus they cant easily change their route or cancel the Regional jet flights. So, they do ground delays. You wait until they can land, usually an hour or so after the scheduled landing.

So, you are correct, its a conspiracy. United cancels their short haul flights when the fog rolls in, and WN sits on the ground waiting to take off.

This is why "I Fly OAK"... :-)

Nope. SFO-LAX

DL-15 flights
UA-14 flights
SW-11 flights
VX- 9 flights
AA- 6 flights

Total: 55 flights

OAK-LAX

SW-12 flights
DL- 7 flights

Total: 19 flights

DL:
Good schedules +1.
Good coach prices +1.
First often available for the same price as coach +1
$200 Change Fees -1
Total: 3

United:
Good schedules +1.
Good coach prices +1.
First never available for the same price as coach -1
No change fees (on H fare) +1
Total: 3

Southwest:
Good schedules +1.
Good coach prices +1.
Biz select often available for the same price as coach +1
No change fees: +1
Total: 4

VX and AA don't have the schedules I need.

Right, I meant WN has more flights at OAK than SFO... should have been clearer.

But nice to see the breakdown anyway! Thanks! ^