As of 16 October, San Francisco International now has an all-new gate numbering system. Airport authorities believe that the new alphanumeric gate numbering system will help passengers navigate through the expansive airport more easily.

San Francisco International introduced its new gate numbering system on the evening of 15 October. More than 102 gate numbers had to be changed simultaneously to ensure the airport transitioned to the new system as smoothly as possible.

Where a numeric system was used previously, with gates ranging from 1 to 102, an alphanumeric gate numbering system has now been implemented. Now, each boarding area corresponds to a letter, from A to G. Separate gates within each boarding area are then given a number.

The airport has released a handy map showing how the old and new gate numbering systems work. If you’re a frequent flyer out of San Francisco International, and you want to know what your regular gate has been renamed to, it’s well worth a look.

According to reports by Flight Global, the gate renumbering project cost $8.9 million in total.

Logistics of the gate numbering change

Updating the signage on more than 100 airport gates is no easy feat. Signs throughout the airport had to be updated simultaneously to ensure passengers weren’t getting lost or confused.

Adding new signs throughout the night of 15/16 October would have required a massive workforce. Luckily the airport had planned ahead.

The new signs had been installed some time ago. Decal stickers with the old numbers were then applied in the meantime and simply removed once it was time for the transition.

But the interior signage was not the only signage that needed to be updated. The exterior indicators which tell pilots where to dock the aircraft also needed to be switched to the new alphanumeric gate numbering system.

According to Doug Yakel, San Francisco Airport’s Public Information Officer, there were some additional systems that needed to be updated.

“We had to integrate how the airline systems talk to the airport systems, so there were technical systems that required some troubleshooting”, he said.

Disruption at San Francisco International Airport

This week’s gate numbering changeover seems to have gone smoothly. All that’s left to do is update the signage on the tarmac. But that’s a far cry from the situation at San Francisco International Airport last month.

Many of you will remember the huge delays and numerous cancellations which were caused as a result of construction work on one of the airport’s runways. It appears the airport severely underestimated the delays that the runway renovations would cause.

Thankfully that’s all in the past. Now the only thing to worry about is getting used to the new gate labeling system.