Maybe it’s just worth recapping the time and conditions when this occurred. The ATIS at 0356Z gives FEW005, SCT007. Hardly CAVOK is it? Not sure I’d be able to see either the runway or another aircraft with that cloud reported.
One aspect not discussed much is human factors relating to fatigue. You have a long haul crew who have probably operated around 11-12 hours and for their body clock it’s around 05:00. The LH pilot sounds a little tetchy so perhaps that’s one reason and the other is the lack of accurate holding times which is the responsibility of ATC to provide. Also, I suspect that pilots who have never flown long haul do not appreciate that the skills you acquire when flying frequently are likely eroded especially when fatigued. We should be aiming for the highest level of safety that can be achieved. Not “well most pilots can do this so why can’t you?” Even the best operators can have their off days.
To read some of the comments you would think the LH crew requested some weird arcane procedure that meant they were to be treated like Air Force 1! Apparently vectors to an ILS, like you would expect anywhere else, is just too difficult. I’m not a frequent visitor to SFO but over the years I’ve had normally had vectors to an ILS. Sometimes a little sporting and generally ATC have been ok. They always ask “report when you’re visual with xxx aircraft” but when unable, because neither of us could see it then it hasn’t been an issue. Sorry PukinDog I have sometimes used “we’ve got ‘em on TCAS”. Mea culpa.
This is definitely not a rant against SFO ATC in general but I think this particular controller should have done better accommodating a reasonable request by the pilot. Lastly, SFO is a major international airport so it should have the flexibility to allow foreign operators to fly within a SOP that is quite reasonable. If it accepts aircraft on an IFR flight plan it should allow an instrument approach at the end of it.