Originally posted by pixie Thanks for the detailed explanation. I thought they (4 engine ones) were not that rare as I see them here all the time out of SFO. Framing two of them while at high altitude is another thing.
SFO would be one of the places where there are a lot of 747s and 380s because of the cross pacific routes, and their capacity results in less planes flying. The 777 was the first two engine plane to have engine life long enough to be rated for commercial use across the Pacific, where there is potential to need to fly one engine down for 7 hours, depending where the failure happens. SFO is the nicest US entry point I have found, and influenced my choice of entry point several times. I think the fundamental issue is that it is one of the few US airports which separates international and domestic travel. In contrast LAX seems to be a collection of airline airports rather than an airport to which the airlines fly.
I arrived at SFO one time and the immigration computer failed, so they just let the arrival hall fill up with about 10 loads of people. Everyone just had to stand around for a couple of hours till it got going again. Other than that, no problems with that place. That day the airline representative spent about 30-40 minutes with me (one passenger) trying to find rebookings to my destination, and then overnight accommodation (I had arrived on a morning flight) and still arrived in Ottawa after midnight the next night. I had a generous connection but the wait was that long. That is an advantage of the old style booking of a whole journey in comparison with the sector by sector booking on the internet, because then the airline is not responsible for problems that arise.