The History of San Francisco International Airport

DALLAS — The city of San Francisco is arguably the gateway to Northern California. Despite the coastal town having a population of just over 800,000, its airport punches well above its weight, serving as a significant hub for both United Airlines (UA) and Alaska Airlines (AS), making it a strategic choice for airlines from both the Star Alliance and the oneworld alliance.

And its passenger numbers reflect this, with it having served 57 million passengers in 2019. The airport’s significant international traffic primarily comes from East Asia, with six of the airport’s top 10 global destinations located in this region, including the top spot on the list, Taipei. However, the airport was not always this large or strategically located. 

San Francisco’s airport’s history began on May 7, 1927, and it opened under the name “Mills Field Municipal Airport of San Francisco.” It was named after the Mills Estate, which originally leased the land in the city of San Francisco on which the airport was situated. Previously, the land was predominantly agricultural, and the site was located approximately 10 miles outside the city limits.

Early Years

1927 marked aviation’s heyday in the United States, as the technology had proven itself during the First World War and was subsequently utilized for cross-country mail contracts. In the case of San Francisco, Boeing Air Transport had won the contract to connect the city to the air mail network in early 1927; however, the city did not yet have an airfield. The land was leased on March 15 of that year, and the airport opened almost two months later.

From this point onwards, San Francisco gained a strategic reputation, with it being one of the few cities at the time to have a significant population and air transport complementing its sea transport capabilities. San Francisco had also previously been the city where many East Asian immigrants had arrived and settled, making it one of the most international cities in the United States at the time. This meant that San Francisco had a trajectory for global trade and travel.

In the first few years, Mills Field’s main business was pilot training and air mail. The airport would receive its first scheduled passenger services in the early 1930s, and by 1934, it had four primary users: Maddux Airlines, Western Air Express, Century Pacific Airlines, and the newly formed United Airlines. This came after the city negotiated the purchase of the land on which the airport stood, allowing them more freedom to choose how the site was used. This also allowed for the site’s name to be changed from Mills Field Municipal Airport of San Francisco to ”San Francisco Airport”, otherwise known by its IATA code, SFO.

Traffic quickly grew, and by 1937, the site opened a new terminal to cope with demand. With this new demand came new airlines and new routes. TWA started servicing the city, and UA became the largest airline to operate there. United would go as far as to connect the city with destinations as far afield as New York—a reasonable route today; however, this was a pioneering feat at the time, with them using Douglas DC-3s on this service.

During the 1940s, as America entered the war, much of the country’s passenger air travel was put on hold, and the site was used as a base for flying operations by the United States Coast Guard. However, passenger demand did not completely evaporate. Pan American Airways used SFO as a base for their flying boat operations, connecting the city five times a week with Honolulu, including one service which continued to Auckland.

Post War

Post-war, however, SFO began to thrive properly, receiving far greater international attention from airlines serving trans-Pacific routes, with destinations such as China, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, all accessible from SFO.

By the early 1950s, the world was entering the jet age, and SFO intended to be ready for it. A major expansion was set into motion, which included a new terminal, a significantly larger parking apron for larger aircraft, and new runways, giving SFO the layout it is built around today. The expansion was complete by August 1954 and was open to the public for three days before it began receiving passengers, allowing them to see the terminal up close and experience their new airport.

The city would receive its first European service from TWA, with them serving London and Paris from 1957. SFO would also soon enter the jet age, with Boeing 707 service to TWA, which used it to fly nonstop from New York in March 1959.

Many others would follow suit with 707 operations. Qantas (QF) used their 707s on this route as a stopover on their Sydney to London route. Pan Am, BOAC, Lufthansa (LH), and Japan Airlines (JL) would also follow suit with their own Boeing 707, 747 and DC-8 services.

More Recently

The airport’s reach continued to grow as the decades progressed, and it established itself as the gateway to the Pacific. SFO continued to expand, culminating in the international terminal development of the 1990s. Much of this demand was driven by the “Dot Com Boom,” in which the greater Bay Area, and specifically Silicon Valley, grew to become a technology powerhouse, thereby increasing demand for passenger traffic at SFO. 

This development was completed in December 2000 at the cost of US$2.4 billion. It included the construction of several new gates and the complete replacement of the old Terminal 2, which was also used for international services. 

It would not be long afterwards, in 2003, that the airport would be connected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), San Francisco’s metro system, making the airport a bit more accessible to air travelers.

SFO Today

Today, San Francisco International is the 5th busiest airport in the United States and the 29th busiest globally, in terms of passenger movements.

In recent years, it has hosted many important and consequential airlines, such as the much-loved Virgin America. Virgin America called San Francisco home from its inception and inauguration in 2007, offering itself as a low-cost, very customer service-oriented alternative to legacy airlines. It ploughed its trade with a fleet of Airbus and was beloved by customers until its absorption into Alaska Airlines in 2018. 

San Francisco is still home to UA. Although it is not its base airport, it remains an important hub, with the airline operating to 108 destinations in 20 countries from here. SFO even played host to the airline’s last-ever Boeing 747 operation in 2017, operating to Honolulu, marking a return to the route that the airline first flew in 1970.

The airport isn’t without controversy, however, with it being the site of the 2013 crash of Asiana flight 214, a Boeing 777-200ER that crashed short of runway 28L due to pilot error, causing three fatalities.

Pilot error was also attributed to the so-called “worst crash that never happened”, when in 2017, Air Canada flight 759 nearly landed on the taxiway north of runway 28R, mistaking it for that runway. The Airbus A320 pilots aborted the landing. They averted colliding with a United Airlines Boeing 787 and three other aircraft, clearing the 787 by just 5ft, and avoiding a collision that could have cost over a thousand lives.

Newest Builds

SFO’s newest builds have been its new control tower and the Harvey Milk terminal. The airport opened a new control tower in 2016, following concerns that the site’s old tower would not be able to withstand a large earthquake, which the Bay Area is accustomed to, given its location on the San Andreas fault line. It was opened on October 15, 2016, for US$102 million.

The Harvey Milk terminal, Terminal 1, is the airport’s newly renovated terminal. Named after the civil rights activist who called San Francisco home, the new terminal focuses on sustainability and inclusivity, designed to enhance the passenger experience while also reducing stress. This is also the first terminal in the United States to have an accredited airside museum—an offshoot of the SFO museum.

The terminal also focuses on reducing its carbon footprint by featuring glare-reducing windows, which allow it to remain cool while using less air conditioning.

Conclusion

For a city of its size, San Francisco’s airport punches well above its weight, with it evolving to become a connecting hub for some of the world’s most important airlines. In its 97-year history, SFO has continuously innovated and sought to improve, meeting the challenges it has faced, from economic booms to earthquakes. It has consistently sought to make the passenger feel at home, included, and celebrated, while providing airlines with an immensely strategic location to capitalise on. 

San Francisco International Airport never claimed to be the biggest or the most important. However, the weight on its shoulders is immense, and its legacy is far greater. Its wake can be felt across the state, and California might not be what it is today without airports like SFO.