Get ready: SFO to renumber all airport gates in October A "logical move" designed to help travelers find their way

Finding your way to the gate at SFO is about to change Finding your way to the gate at SFO is about to change Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2016 Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2016 Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Get ready: SFO to renumber all airport gates in October 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

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San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will renumber all of its gates overnight on October 15, a project that officials believe will make it easier for passengers to find their way around. But it could cause some confusion in the short term, especially among frequent fliers who have the current airport map memorized.

The airport will adopt a new alphanumeric system that incorporates the letter of the boarding area (A-G) with a new gate number.

The new gate numbers are based on where they are located relative to the security checkpoint for that terminal. For example, the current Gate 75, which is located by the security checkpoint in United's Terminal 3, will be renumbered to Gate F1. Gate 90, which is located much further away from the security checkpoint will be renumbered to F20.

The big renumbering changes go into effect Wednesday morning, October 16 for the entire airport.

For frequent SFO fliers used to the current map, it will take some adjusting to locate renumbered gates. For example, when flying United from a gate in "the 80s," you sort of know what part of the airport you'll be in. When assigned a gate "in the 60s," you know you'll be in United's new E-gates in Terminal 3. All that changes on October 16.

For infrequent fliers, the new designations might save valuable time scouring an airport map for where you need to go since the new system is more intuitive.

Many fliers may not even be aware of the various terminals and boarding areas at SFO, so here's a primer. See the map below to follow along.... See a larger online version of the new map here.

Photo: SFO San Francisco International's new gate numbering scheme goes into...

The International Terminal is composed two boarding areas: A and G. The right "A side" is home to almost all international carriers that are not part of the Star Alliance. Frontier Airlines also operates out of the A side. The left "G side" houses gates for United and most Star Alliance partners.

Next up, is the Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which includes boarding areas B and C. If you are flying Southwest or JetBlue, you'll use Boarding Area B. Delta? Boarding area C.

Keep going around the SFO horseshoe, and you'll come to Terminal 2, which currently houses Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, both of which use Boarding Area D. (American will move to the new boarding area B in Terminal 1 next year.)

Then you'll hit United's big Terminal 3, which includes Boarding Area E and F.

SFO has produced a helpful video giving the public a glimpse of what they can expect: Watch the video here.

A similar system is in use at airports worldwide, including at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Newark-Liberty Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

"This is designed to be more logical and intuitive for travelers," Yakel said. "Previous gate numbers existed without any reference to their location."

The new formula eliminates the current sequential numbering of gates (ranging from Gate 1 in Boarding Area A to Gate 102 in Boarding Area G) that the airport has used for decades.

Adding the letter of the boarding area not only helps hurried fliers identify which one they need to be in to find their departing flights, but it also gives the airport some flexibility to add or remove gates without having to worry about how a gate number would affect other terminals.

It has already been incorporated into the recently opened section of The Harvey Milk Terminal 1 where all gates begin with B (for boarding area B), Doug Yakel, SFO's public information officer, said. The opening of the new terminal was the reason why the airport decided to embark on the project, since the new 25-gate facility threw the existing formula out of whack.

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The airport is spending $8.9 million on the gate renumbering.

SFO's short-term parking garages are already carved up into lettered zones which denote the boarding area they're closest to, so the change will make it easier for people looking to snag a spot nearest to their gate.

Yakel said airport signage will be changed overnight on October 15. The airport expects the updated signage to be up and ready for the public the morning of October 16 when the first flights depart.

That's no small task either. All the signage in the terminals, at the gate, the AirTrain system and parking garages will need to be updated. Even airfield gate markings used by pilots, airline ground handling workers, and the control tower will be changed. Here's a closer look at the new gate numbers and a larger map.

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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.