Many pilots have experience landing in airports without a control tower, said Billie Vincent, a former security director for the F.A.A.
A senior colleague with more experience landing 777s sat beside him as co-pilot, but he was flying as a 777 instructor for the first time.
He was still on a "familiarization flight" program when he was at the controls Saturday; a senior colleague with more experience landing 777s, including at San Francisco, sat beside him as co-pilot.
Alex Wang, the company's chief executive and co-founder, said the idea grew out of his personal experience landing at the San Francisco airport on his first visit from China, 21 years ago, when he was in his 20s.
This is as senseless as if in World War II we had decided that the First Infantry Division, which had gone ashore in North Africa and Sicily, was to be disbanded and replaced on D-Day with a division that had no experience landing on hostile ground.
Levein's team picks itself on this occasion, with Christophe Berra's experience landing him the job of partnering Gary Caldwell in central defence, despite the excellent performance produced by Danny Wilson in last month's friendly win over Denmark.
