Oakland International Airport, one of three airports serving the San Francisco Bay Area, has a problem – it’s been losing traffic since before the pandemic. To help remedy this, OAK officials voted to rename the airport.
Of the three airports in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland International Airport is the smallest and hosts the least amount of passenger traffic. In fact, you probably know Oakland more as a cargo airport since it’s a huge West Coast hub for FedEx. For my Hawaii people, that means your FedEx package will usually flow through Oakland just before it lands in the islands. But I digress.
It seems that the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners wants to change that, or at least make the airport easier to pinpoint to the average traveler. And to do so, OAK officials voted to rename the airport after the greater metropolitan area they serve.
OAK Officials Voted to Rename The Airport
If you haven’t figured it out already, OAK officials voted to rename the airport San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. From a purely branding perspective, that makes sense, as San Francisco is the biggest destination in the area. However, another airport with a similar name already exists – San Francisco International Airport.
What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, unlike Washington Regan National and Washington Dulles, both of which are all owned and operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority – the cities of each Bay Area airport own their namesake airport. So, the City & County of San Francisco owns SFO, Oakland owns OAK, and San Jose owns SJC.
Now, as you’d imagine, San Francisco isn’t happy about this renaming. In fact, San Francisco is now suing Oakland to prevent them from going through with the renaming. Can they? There doesn’t appear to be a consensus on whether San Francisco has trademark rights over “San Francisco Bay,” especially since it’s not the same as “San Francisco International Airport” and is the name of an actual geographic area.
For its part, San Francisco claims that the name will cause confusion among travelers. And you know what? It might, especially not savvy travelers. However, regular travelers are likely to search for these airports using their IATA codes and, thus, won’t get mixed up at all.
Final Thoughts
So, what do I think? I have no problem that OAK officials voted to rename the airport with “San Francisco Bay.” If the goal is to attract more business from infrequent travelers, then it makes sense. Plus, if you’re traveling to areas around the Bay Area, such as Napa, Oakland may actually make more sense. After all, returning to the airport going from Napa to OAK will result in having to pay one bridge toll, while having to drive back to SFO would force you to pay two bridge tolls – or take a LONG detour.
Now, I’ve never flown to/from OAK, but I don’t plan to. It might be closer to Napa, which is often where I go when traveling to the area, but they have an off-site CONRAC, which I hate. So, with Oakland, you have the inconvenience of having to take a shuttle to get to your rental car without the interesting amenities that SFO offers. As a result, SJC has become my preferred airport in the Bay Area, as the CONRAC is right across the street!
Now, OAK has limited airline selections, which is another limiting factor. However, Hawaii residents can fly both Hawaiian and Southwest into OAK. But if you fly First Class on Hawaiian, you’ll want to fly into SFO, as that’s the only Bay Area route that features aircraft equipped with lie-flat seats.