Oakland airport is changing its name again – this time to Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport. Last year they sought to change it from Oakland International Airport to San Francsico Bay Oakland International Airport. SFO sued to block that, and a judge agreed (which was dumb).
Now, Oakland still will lead the name. The Port authority board will vote on this July 10. SFO airport hasn’t yet commented on potential objections. The legal case continues, and the airport wants a new name while continuing to press for the one they wanted.
San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport née Oakland International Airport
The idea of the original name change was to… reduce confusion? Passengers would see Oakland and think “I can fly there to go to San Francisco!” But it could also increase confusion because, wait, which one is the San Francisco airport?
SFO argues it has exclusive rights to the “San Francisco” name in the airport context – and the addition of “San Francisco Bay” to Oakland’s name creates confusion, leading travelers to book flights to the wrong airport, misdirecting rideshare drivers, and affecting the reputation of San Francisco itself although frankly I’m not sure the city’s reputation can fall much further than it already has. (Ironically, the city’s reputation has been on the upswing since Oakland voted for this change, but that’s more a function of voters walking away from the London Breed era.)
Oakland airport’s lawyers respond that the name change simply communicates factual information about their physical proximity to the Bay – and does not imply any affiliation with SFO. The 9th Circuit legal standard is customer confusion at point of purchase. I’d note that airlines are the airport’s customers. They aren’t confused.
Moreover, we know there’s not really passenger confusion because San Francisco airport’s traffic hasn’t been harmed by the name change. It’s grown since then. Furthermore, passengers search for flights to Oakland and even San Jose already when looking for travel to Northern California. I’d further point out,
- There are semi-regular stories of people buying tickets to Sydney, Nova Scotia instead of Sydney, Australia.
- DFW airport is called Dallas. Love Field can’t stop it! Orlando doesn’t like Melbourne-Orlando airport, but tough going…
- Meanwhile, Oakland airport actually borders the San Francisco Bay while the SFO airport is not in San Francisco proper but rather San Mateo County.
San Francisco International Airport
Baltimore’s BWI airport makes clear that it is part of the Washington, DC region – Baltimore Washington International. It used to be BAL for Baltimore and the story of how they changed involves geopolitical intrigue since BWI belonged to Papua New Guinea.
Fresno Yosemite Airport markets itself as a gateway to Yosemite National Park, so that visitors consider it rather than San Francisco or San Jose (which are more likely for many to have non-stop flights). They were unable to get their airport code changed, however. It’s still FAT (‘Fresno Air Terminal’), one of the world’s worst airport codes alongside Sioux City, Iowa; Fukuoka, Japan; Kochi, India; and Pensacola, Florida.
And European low cost carriers have long promoted Bratislava as Vienna even though it’s literally in another country!
Names mean nothing to me. I work off the IATA code. I have a big PNS, hehe! I fly my jet from PNS to FUK. I know where CLT is.
That “Vienna” airport in another country doesn’t matter in the EU where countries are like states because of open borders. Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky. EWR is in Jersey despite serving New York.
Gary made a little mistake, writing “Meanwhile, Oakland airport actually borders the San Francisco Bay while the SFO airport is not in San Francisco proper but rather San Mateo County”
SFO also borders San Francisco Bay and OAK is in Alameda County.
Oakland should just get rid of the Oakland name. Have there be San Francisco International and San Francisco Regional. For many years, DFW was DFW Regional. There’s still Shreveport Regional Airport.
@Gary —> Fiorella LaGuardia is rolling over in his grave…remember, Newark is not New York.
SFO might be in San Mateo County, but considering San Francisco County is only 7 miles by 7 miles, the airport had to go somewhere. AND, as @derek has already pointed out, SFO not only borders the San Francisco Bay, it’s actually IN the Bay. (OAK is on the island and in the city of Alameda; it’s not in Oakland, so….)
As a longtime resident of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, I know the difference between SFO, OAK, and SJC. TTBOMK, I’ve flown in and out of San José 43 times; Oakland, 91 times; and San Francisco 342 times. And like Mayor LaGuardia, Oakland isn’t San Francisco. Indeed, personally, the whole idea of OAK changing its name from “Oakland INTERNATIONAL Airport” to “Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport” and dropping the word “International” is stupid and makes the airport seem smaller and less important than it actually is.
Then again, unless you’re flying WN, OAK *is* largely irrelevant…and WN is. often cheaper out of SFO than OAK — go figure!
@Jason could not disagree more. Yes, San Francisco county is small, but OAK is as close to it as SFO is. And the Alameda argument is largely irrelevant here. That part of Oakland and Alameda are practically one and the same. There is no reason that SFO has any more dibs to the city than OAK. The SF autocrats don’t want to admit it, because SF owns SFO, and they don’t want to lose out on some cash.
The intended deceit aside, what part of “Oakland” in the first word do people not understand?