Oakland International Airport (OAK) is rebranding once again, trying to take advantage of its proximity to San Francisco. Will San Francisco International Airport (SFO) object this time around?
Continue reading: Oakland Airport Changing Its Name (Again): Will San Francisco Object?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I think a city-wide airport code would be much more helpful for them than a name change. When I search for flights to NYC, I type in NYC to check prices at all three. SF should offer the same for SFO and OAK (and maybe SJC).
I couldn’t care less about the name of any airport.
Just a little further south, newly hired PhDs at Meta Superintelligence Labs are on the verge of changing the world. And schmucks are fighting like schoolchildren over a name?
Truly a display of the variance of intelligence within homo sapiens.
A lot of SF residents find OAK more convenient. And it's right there, not like it's miles and miles away.
Interestingly though none of the NYC airports officially have "New York" in their name. Both Chicago airports use "Chicago" but are located in Chicago while only LAX uses "Los Angeles" so there is some precedent to keeping OAK from using "San Francisco" (though I'm not sure about "San Francisco Bay"). On the other hand DFW isn't located in "D" nor is it located in "FW"
Entirely reasonable to have SF Bay in the name, since it's literally next to SF Bay. Fair marketing too, given proximity and even good transit access to downtown SF.
imho the word order probably helps address the likelihood of confusion issue, but they're still going to have to deal with the fact that using 'San Francisco' "when there is in fact no affiliation, connection or association between the Oakland airport and San Francisco is contrary to how airports in the United States are normally named."
You might not care, but sadly a lot of people really do have negative impressions of Oakland and it's enough to actually prevent them from flying there even when it would better suit their agendas and budgets.
Evan if you ignore "reputations"/impressions, as others have mentioned OAK is just as conveniently located to downtown SF as SFO... and the term "San Franciso Bay" encompasses more than just the west side of the bay.
I'm all for this change... ironically that's the same name Norwegian used to use for OAK lol.
I love this idea. When I lived in NorCal, OAK and SJC were usually much simpler/easier to use than SFO, and the locations are great.
It is indeed. "San Francisco Bay Area" or simply "Bay Area" encompasses Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco. So Oakland is not *next* to the Bay Area, it's well and truly within it, and it's fully deserving of this name change.
I am a SFBA native, and last month, I got into a Lyft going to OAK and nearly had a heart attack when I looked up my flight and saw "San Francisco" as the first words in the airport name. The potential for confusion was real. This will reduce it.
Isn’t there an exact parallel to this situation in the DMV area?
Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA)
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Baltimore-Washington International (BWI)
I was thinking they could go with Bay Area International Airport or Oakland Bay Area International Airport. Bay Area is a common term for the region.
I still think changing to Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport is a tad too much, but I could see it changing to Oakland Bay Area International Airport.
"Washington" for DCA and IAD are fair game. BWI is stretching a bit. More egregious are Orlando area airports: Sanford (SFB) calling itself "Orlando Sanford International" and Melbourne (MLB) naming itself "Melbourne Orlando International." (MLB is way out in left field)
Yes. that's what OAK needs - to coordinate w/ airlines and search OTAs to make the list for San Francisco. The way LAX and BUR shows up for Los Angeles (although there are certainly more choices) and IAD, DCA, BWI shows up for Washington.
SFBA natives riding in in Lfyts / Ubers usually know if they are on 101 or 880 😉
IMHO, OAK’s issue isn’t name but the lawlessness of the Oakland city. Improve that and rest will follow.
You spent your time commenting in this thread and completely missed your own reflection while you were at it. So congrats on proving your own point about homo sapiens.
Ah, the San Francisco 49ers, who play their games 45 miles south of San Francisco in Santa Clara. Maybe they should start being called the San Jose 49ers, as that's only a few miles away. Also the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles, only about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, albeit in another county.
See what happens when you can "name your own pronoun".
Renaming an airport is a joke to all of you.
But not using a correct pronoun triggers chaos.
Politically correct airport?
Lipstick on a pig. Oakland needs a new city administration and another 1000 police officers.
Not a single one of those airports has any problem drawing traffic unlike OAK. Why is that? I'm flying out of DCA tomorrow. Going in I know I don't have to worry about my safety or stepping in piles of human excrement. All three are in very vibrant areas unlike OAK where businesses are leaving. The solution should be obvious.
Maybe Oakland should take a page from Trump's playbook and start calling it Oakland Bay.
I APPROVE this!!!
I don't like it but it gets rid of the overused "international". Too many U.S. airports use "international". There is no need for "international". Really big airport don't need to brag, like Heathrow or Gatwick.
I hope the name doesn't change from Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport to Oakland San Francisco Bay Amelia Earhart Cesar Chavez Martin Luther King Jr. James Meredith Malcolm X International Airport at Alameda County.
The easiest way to be popular is to leach off the popularity of others. That's why we propose changing the town's name from Springfield to Seinfeld!
I lived in San Francisco for 15 years. I tried flying OAK to SLC using Republic Airlines (the original BIG Republic) and America West ( I am OLD ) to LAS and PHX.
Pain in the ass compared to SFO. Poor Oakland, there are a couple really nice neighborhoods....but yeah, NO.
And while as the crow flies...it may be close to The City, the crow doesn't drive to The City or Peninsula from OAK
I think it is more a matter of which airlines fly there and the management company. Consider other related examples, such as Newark (EWR). The Port Authority for New York and New Jersey manages that airport as well as the other NYC airports, so it is integrated. Furthermore, a few airlines have a handful of flights to Newark, but generally speaking those on certain airlines or certain alliances will fly there (or vice versa with the other two NYC airports). Perhaps something similar could be done here.
Eh. Oakland is just fine. That they're so vested in changing the name of the airport is weird.
Oakland Airport was never very convenient for me (I only ever used it once - SFO was closer to my home.)
"Oakland San Francisco Bay International Airport" is a fine name! (Although a hyphen between "Oakland" and "San Francisco Bay" would be welcome.) And if they want to change their IATA airport code from OAK then they've got a couple open options like OBY and OFR. Or strike a deal with Osage Beach, Missouri, to get OSB. OAK is memorable, though, so I'd keep that.
In terms of precedents and analogs, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is located in unincorporated Fort Snelling, not in either Minneapolis or Saint Paul. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is located in Romulus, Michigan. (The Coleman A. Young International Airport is owned by the City of Detroit.) Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is owned by the city, although it's mostly located in Kenner with a tiny bit in unincorporated St. Charles Parish. Gary/Chicago International Airport is located in Gary, Indiana. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is located in Boone County, Kentucky. Pittsburgh International Airport is located in Findlay and Moon Townships. St. Louis International Airport is located in unincorporated St. Louis County. Indianapolis International Airport is located in Wayne and Decatur townships. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is located in Sea-Tac (not in either Seattle or Tacoma). And (ironically) San Francisco International Airport is actually located in unincorporated San Mateo County, not in the city of San Francisco. (Although the airport has tried to finesse its reality by arranging a San Francisco Zip code and postal address.)
Even the airport knows, nobody in their right mind would fly to Oakland. What a dump of a city!
That SFO managed to prevent the previous name of San Francisco Bay Oakland is wild. So many cities have multiple airports - London has six which start with “London”. And yet somehow SFO was granted trademark protection?? Oakland airport is literally on the same bay and in the same metro area.
“A judge granted a preliminary injunction against OAK, demanding that the airport stop using the name ‘San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport,’ and to not use ‘San Francisco Bay’ in any promotions or products.”
Well, no, that’s not what the court did. Here is the full text of what was actually ordered:
“The Court PRELIMINARILY ENJOINS the Port of Oakland and its officers, directors, agents, servants, employees, and all other persons who are in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of this order by personal or other service, from using, displaying, or registering the name or trademark “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” in connection with any products or services, including in connection with advertising, marketing, or other promotion, distribution, offering for sale, or sale, of any products or services.”
Seriously? All that is going to do is CONFUSE passengers even more!!!!!! Many people don't know the 3-letter codes for each airport, but by inserting "San Francisco Bay Area" into the description of OAK, it JUST MIGHT confuse the average person into thinking they are going to SFO !! I know it should be UP TO THE PAX to LOOK at their Itinerary/phone app (whatever) to see the exact airport he or she is flying into or out of, but many people just ASSUME versus taking a minute to really look. I "see" a nightmare in some people's future if they're headed to the Bay area and don't know what airport they are really flying into or out of! Like travel isn't hard enough these days -- make it more challenging and confusing ....... way to go OAK !!
"Washington" for DCA and IAD are fair game. BWI is stretching a bit.
Why?
BWI is a grand total of 4 nautical miles farther from central D.C. than IAD is, and the two are co-terminals in both the UK and EU bilaterals with the USA, the former dating before the 1977 formation of Bermuda II.
By that same reasoning.. SF airport is not actually in San Francisco.. it's in San Bruno. Maybe they should change their name.