The Oakland Worldwide Airport could add “San Francisco” to it’s title to draw extra passengers, however its neighbors throughout the Bay have slammed the doable rebrand.
The Board of Commissioners for the Port of Oakland will take up the query at its meeting on Thursday.
Oakland airport officers say vacationers unfamiliar with the area fly into San Francisco’s airport even when their vacation spot is nearer to the East Bay airport. Modifying the title to San Francisco Bay Oakland Worldwide Airport will change that, they are saying. The airport’s three-letter code OAK wouldn’t change.
“Market analysis and interviews with airline companions have proven that routes haven’t carried out in addition to they need to have because of the lack of geographic consciousness, making air carriers reluctant to maintain and add new routes in Oakland,” stated Craig Simon, the Port of Oakland’s interim aviation director, in a press release.
He stated the airport, formally often known as the Metropolitan Oakland Worldwide Airport, misplaced 39 of 54 new routes added from July 2008 to March 2024.
However the opportunity of a name-change has horrified San Francisco officers, who say it’s going to confuse vacationers, particularly these flying in from overseas. Ivar C. Satero, director of San Francisco’s airport, stated they’re “deeply involved” over the potential for buyer confusion and disservice. San Francisco Metropolis Lawyer David Chiu on Tuesday threatened to sue Oakland officers in the event that they pursue the name-change, arguing it might violate town’s trademark on “San Francisco Worldwide Airport.”
San Francisco “has held these registrations for such a very long time that they’ve grow to be incontestable below federal legislation,” Chiu wrote in a letter to varied Oakland officers.
“Shoppers will both misunderstand Oakland Worldwide Airport’s bodily location (i.e., that it’s in San Francisco moderately than Oakland) or mistakenly imagine that there’s a formal relationship or connection between the 2 airports that doesn’t exist,” he added.
Aaron Peskin, president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, launched a decision final week opposing the name-change and requesting the port fee reject it.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, stated on X that the airport shouldn’t be “chopping & pasting” San Francisco’s title.
“I like Oakland, however Oakland is Oakland. It’s not San Francisco,” he wrote. “Please discover one other approach to flip issues round.”
However different customers on X identified that San Francisco’s airport is definitely situated in Millbrae, a metropolis in San Mateo County.
One particular person quipped, “When are we renaming the 49ers? #SantaClara.” The San Francisco 49ers play at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which sits simply exterior San Jose and is about 45 miles south of San Francisco.