San Francisco purchased the property and the surrounding area expanding the site to 1,112 acres (450 ha) beginning in August 1930.

[6] United Airlines was formed in 1934 and quickly became the key carrier at the airport, with Douglas DC-3 service to Los Angeles and New York beginning in January 1937.

[8] Competition with United led Pacific Seaboard to move all of its operations to the eastern U.S., and rename itself Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C&S).

[9] Delta used the route authority inherited from C&S to fly one of its first international services operated with Convair 880 jet aircraft from San Francisco to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Caracas, Venezuela, via intermediate stops in Dallas and New Orleans in 1962.

[citation needed] Pan Am began service from SFO after World War II with five weekly flights to Honolulu, one of which continued to Canton Island, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Auckland.

[citation needed] The first service by foreign carriers was on Australian National Airways (ANA) Douglas DC-4s flown by British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines: Sydney–Auckland–Fiji–Kanton Island–Honolulu–San Francisco–Vancouver, BC.

[citation needed] Southwest Airways began flying scheduled passenger operations from SFO in 1946 with war surplus C-47s, the military version of the Douglas DC-3.

[28] Pacific used the 727 to introduce the first jet service from San Francisco to several cities in California including Bakersfield, Eureka/Arcata, Fresno, Lake Tahoe, Monterey and Santa Barbara.

[33][34] By 1962 Delta Air Lines was flying Convair 880s to SFO on one its first international jet services, San Francisco–Dallas Love Field–New Orleans–Montego Bay, Jamaica–Caracas, Venezuela.

[42] United Express turboprops were scheduled 60 minutes apart to the shuttle connecting passengers between SFO and nearby San Jose International Airport during the boom era.

One mitigation proposal would have the airport purchase and restore the 29,000 acres (12,000 ha) of South Bay wetlands owned by Cargill Salt to compensate for the new fill.

[46][47] These expansion proposals met resistance from environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, fearing damage to the habitat of animals near the airport, recreational degradation (such as windsurfing) and bay water quality.

[46][48] State Senator John L. Burton introduced SB 1562 on February 18, 2000, to bypass the environmental impact study that would normally be required for a large project like the proposed Bay fill and mitigation in order to expedite construction.

[56] On February 24, 2003, the AirTrain people mover opened, transporting passengers between terminals, parking lots, the BART station, and the rental car center on small automatic trains.

[65] As part of the agreement, Shell and SkyNRG began supplying sustainable aviation fuel to KLM, SAS, and Finnair flights operating out of SFO.

In most circumstances, aircraft from the north or west start the approach from Daly City, California, descend along the east or west shoreline of the San Francisco Peninsula, and join the final after bypassing waypoints MENLO near Menlo Park and DUMBA; aircraft from the south join the final through MENLO and DUMBA after flying over the Santa Cruz Mountains; aircraft from the east join the final approach after bypassing Milpitas, California.

Established by the FAA in the early 1980s, this program evaluated the cost-effectiveness of reducing interior sound levels for homes near the airport, within the 65 CNEL noise contour.

The costs turned out to be modest, and the post-construction interior sound level tests confirmed the predictions for noise abatement.

[98] The multi-phase project yielded a total of 27 gates when completed in 2024 including a secure Federal Inspection Services (FIS) connector to the existing customs facilities in the International Terminal.

[109] In late-April 2020, the terminal's new lobby opened, with new ticket counters for Southwest and JetBlue, and a new permanent exhibit honoring Milk.

[110][111] On May 12, 2020, in conjunction with the launch of nine new gates at Boarding Area B (B19-B27), American Airlines moved into the new facility, with new ticket counters, baggage systems, and a new Admirals Club lounge.

[114] In 2022, Hawaiian Airlines and WestJet moved a few of their departures into the B gates, but check-in counters and baggage claim remain in International Terminal A.

[123] On May 12, 2008, a US$383,000,000 (equivalent to $542,000,000 in 2023) renovation project was announced that included a new control tower, the use of green materials, a seismic retrofit, and an expansion from ten to fourteen gates.

[125] Approximately a week earlier, on April 6, 2011, Virgin America's ceremonial flight VX2001 was the first to arrive at the renovated Terminal 2, an Airbus A320 bearing founder Richard Branson with other invited celebrity guests, such as Buzz Aldrin, Rachel Hunter, and Gavin Newsom.

[126] The newly renovated terminal also designed by Gensler features permanent art installations from Janet Echelman, Kendall Buster, Norie Sato, Charles Sowers, and Walter Kitundu.

[36][87] It will seismically retrofit part of Terminal 3, add international arrivals capabilities to up to four gates, renovate the check-in lobby, and expand the security checkpoint.

Its geometry required that the terminal structure be built above the main access road, at enormous expense, including building dedicated ramps for connectivity to Highway 101.

Other prominent installations include works by:[161][162] Frequent travelers and airline staff have reportedly told SFO Museum officials they make it a point to arrive to the airport early in order to view the galleries.

BART trains and SamTrans buses also connect San Francisco International Airport to Caltrain with a transfer at Millbrae station.

On December 3, 2013, SFO launched a "Wag Brigade" program to bring a pack of trained therapy dogs to the terminals to calm nervous fliers and make passenger travel more enjoyable.