Oakland OKs airport name change as S.F. pursues suit
Oakland officials voted formally to change the name of the city’s airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport on Thursday — openly defying San Francisco leaders who are suing the city for control of the moniker.
The Port Commission, which runs the Oakland airport, voted 7-0 to finalize the name change, which they announced and initially approved last month.
The Port Commission hopes the name change will help attract more travelers to the airport by educating out-of-towners about Oakland’s location. The airport has struggled to recoup the passenger levels it had before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final vote means that the airport’s name is officially changed, even as a trademark case filed by San Francisco against the switch is ongoing. The airport will keep the abbreviation OAK, even with the new title.
San Francisco officials have expressed anger and concern about the switch, saying it infringes upon the trademark for San Francisco International Airport, and calling it an attempt to siphon off business to the East Bay airport.
Oakland officials counter that their airport is as close, transitwise — and by some measurements closer — to downtown San Francisco than SFO, which is in San Mateo County. The dispute culminated with San Francisco’s city attorney filing a lawsuit against the new name in midApril, alleging that it would cause confusion and chaos, and damage SFO’s business prospects.
The Port Commission disputed those charges in a filing Thursday that asked the judge to issue a preliminary ruling in its favor.
Environmental activists have
also raised concerns, pointing out the harm on air quality for some lower-income neighborhoods in Oakland from air traffic. They say that the airport is using the name change to justify a long-planned expansion at the airport that will result in the release of more greenhouse gases and harmful chemicals in the area.
Others have wondered why Oakland should use San Francisco as part of its branding, when the city has plenty to be proud of on its own.
Nearly a dozen people spoke at the Port Commission meeting Thursday, with the majority expressing opposition to the plan, and many pointing to the environmental concerns.
A Black historian argued that OAK’s name should be changed instead to honor Bill Russell and Frank Robinson — two Black sports stars who graduated from McClymonds High School in Oakland. But the commission was unswayed.
Legal experts have said the case is complicated, but that San Francisco’s hand was strengthened by the trademark it held for the airport for many decades.
Other airports have faced similar naming disputes, including disagreements among three airports in the Orlando area in recent years that resulted in one airport having to change its name while another case is still tied up in litigation.