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For six years, I split my time between San Francisco and New York City. This meant plenty of flights back and forth between the two coasts. In all of those many flights, I only flew into Oakland International Airport once and that was due to a flight cancellation and required a connection to get there. When I started flying there and throughout the time I did consistently, I found the schedule at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) better and I always equated flying into Oakland as not being in the city (not that SFO technically is either, but the thought was that I was flying to San Francisco with a 14-mile ride to downtown).
I was clearly not alone in my thinking as the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners, which oversees the Oakland International Airport (OAK) voted unanimously on Thursday to change the name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (OAK). Officials in San Francisco have opposed this change and even filed a lawsuit last month to block it with the. argument that it infringes on San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) trademarked name.
The disagreement has been interesting to watch and Oakland filed a counterclaim this week. The new name hopes to attract more nonstop destinations by elevating the geographic awareness of the airport’s location and its closeness to San Francisco. (I always tell people that Oakland to San Francisco is like Brooklyn to Manhattan.)
Port Commission President, Barbara Leslie, said:
Our Board came to these discussions with a shared love of Oakland and a desire to see our city and airport thrive. Since our initial vote, the Port has met with dozens of community leaders and stakeholders and heard their concerns. We are moving forward with a commitment to honoring our past while building a stronger, more inclusive future.”
The Points Guy reports that Oakland added 54 new routes between July 2008 and March 2024. Of those, 39 have been cancelled along with six other already established routes. That’s sad to see and hopefully public perception will help the airport to grow.
Anthony’s Take: Airport names change and sometimes it’s just a name (look at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) switching from McCarran). With this change, the hope is that people will think of San Francisco and consider Oakland. We’ll see how this works out and what the courts have to say.
(Image Credits: Joonyeop Baek and San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.)
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1 comment
Stop this nonsense and settle. Oakland drops “international ” so it’s San Francisco Bay Oakland Airport. They are wasting taxpayer’s money on lawyers