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?
Gary, it’s very clear you don’t know much about the SF Bay Area. I appreciate the factual update but your take on this is both muddled and clowny
Newark is not in New York, but United is still the #1 airport in New York!
The fact that Oakland is trying to put SF into their name is totally trying to trick clueless tourists who want to visit SF. SFO is on the same side of the Bay as SF, and BART(subway) is much ‘safer’ on that side, IMO. I don’t take BART on the OAK side at night. If you fly into OAK & rent a car, you’ll have to pay $8-$10 bridge tolls to get into the city. And you better be staying in a nice hotel in SF or near SFO as opposed to near the OAK airport, because Oakland’s bad reputation for safety is deserved. The only In&Out burger joint that ever closed was near OAK, and it wasn’t because they weren’t profitable there. I have a few friends who won’t even DRIVE on I880 thru Oakland. That’s a bit much, but there are random freeway shootings & criminals driving like maniacs trying to get away from cops — rare but much more happenings than you’d like.
San Francisco Airport is in San Francisco, as the City owns the land.
You really don’t know your stuff (or how to read Wikipedia).
BTW, the judges were right in their decision.
OAK is not where the former Naval Air Station Alameda was. It is on land that was annexed by Oakland on November 16, 1909 along with land reclaimed from San Francisco Bay. Some of the land that was annexed at that time was marsh.
Let the people decide… introducing: ‘Airport McAirportFace.’
@Alex, Alameda and Oakland are two completely different cities, each with their own police force, mayor, city council, etc. No one who lives on Alameda claims to live in Oakland; no one who lives in Oakland claims they live on the island of Alameda.
As @Melody pointed out, the City and County of San Francisco own the land on which SFO is built AND it is the San Francisco [city] Police Department that patrols SFO, not the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department, nor the San Bruno Police.
From where I used to live in the City — according to Google Maps — SFO was 15.1 miles from my house; OAK was 22 miles. OAK is 22.2 miles from San Francisco City Hall, while SFO is 13.9 miles away. And from where I live now in Berkeley, SFO is 25.9 miles, while OAK is 19.6 miles away. Not sure why you think the two airports are equidistant from the City. And let’s not overlook the fact that more airlines and more flights fly in and out of SFO than OAK. That means that, even though I now live in the East Bay, SFO remains my home airport.
@Melody —> Just an observation. I have no problem taking BART to SFO in the morning; I have no problem taking BART home from SFO in the afternoon. But I’ll drive to SFO in the morning (and drive home) if my return flight gets me back to SFO at night. But we will take BART to Giants games — from West Oakland to Embarcadero. One stop.
@Jason. I never claimed that Alameda and Oakland were the same city, but being literally on the border is different than 14mi from city hall as you measured. An 8 mile difference to the airports is basically immaterial given they are both right off the highway. Depending on traffic and where you actually are in the city, either could be faster to get to by car. And yes, I know who owns and operates the airport. That is my fundamental point. The city of San Francisco wants to promote SFO, because it makes it money. That however, does not change the fact that it is not in San Francisco.
Let’s just rename ‘San Francisco Bay’ to the ‘Bay of America.’ Then OAK can become the Bay of America Airport (™️), SFO keeps its exclusive ‘San Francisco’ badge, and neither side gets sued over geographic bragging rights. Problem solved!
Today I learned that people care a surprisingly large amount about this.
People going to San Francisco who fly into Oakland not knowing anything about the airport aren’t likely to think they made a mistake when they arrive. Suppose they are going to the Transamerica building. It’s 17 miles from OAK and 22 miles from SFO. Many parts of San Francisco are closer to Oakland. If you are going to Fisherman’s Wharf or Chinatown or Union Square, OAK is closer.
If you pick OAK because it’s closer to the Silicon Valley hotel you picked in Union City, and you find that it’s not near your meeting in Silicon Valley that’s in Sunnyvale, you not only picked the wrong airport, you picked the wrong hotel.
You can’t just pick an airport or hotel based on a general area. You need to know where you are going. Otherwise you might end up in EWR when you should have gone to JFK. Making you think that you are near NYC is confusing. OAK is not.
It’s not the name that’s the issue. Indeed avoiding OAK because you think an airport with San Francisco in the name must be closer is the more likely mistake.
No no no !!! Leave the name alone !!!! Way too confusing!! I love flying out of OAK and usually pick that over SFO … it’s already so crowded as it is and needs no more traffic
We’re in San Francisco and we almost booked the wrong airport, when OAK illegally put San Francisco into their name.
WTF are you doing, Oakland? Why not just name yourselves the “Los Angeles San Francisco Sacramento Oakland Airport” while you’re at it? Or hell, why not also put Las Vegas in there too, since California borders Nevada?