Delays and cancellations at SFO as runway construction begins

SAN FRANCISCO — Airlines have delayed or canceled nearly 300 flights at San Francisco International Airport after long-planned construction closed a busy runway.

Saturday was the first day of a nearly three-week reconstruction project that has shut down runway 28L.

As of 2:45 p.m., 197 flights into or out of SFO had been delayed and 95 had been canceled, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

#SFOAlert Runway 28L will be closed for 20 days for scheduled reconstruction starting today. Please check with your airline for the latest information on flight status. pic.twitter.com/6D7UQBCJEV

— flySFO (@flySFO) September 7, 2019

Passengers on SkyWest Airlines were having a particularly tough time — 68 of the airline’s flights were canceled Saturday, and 16 were delayed.

There were 43 delays and eight cancellations of United Airlines flights, and 33 delays and eight cancellations for Southwest passengers, FlightAware reported.

SFO officials said passengers should check with their airline to find out if their flights are affected.

Airport duty manager Denise Baylor said there were also weather-related delays Saturday to some East Coast destinations because of Hurricane Dorian. Baylor said problems from the runway construction were not any worse than airport officials anticipated.

Check back for updates.