Port of Oakland approves name change for airport
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Port of Oakland's Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday to rename Oakland International Airport.
A second reading of the resolution and a final vote will take place on May 9.
The proposal to change the airport's name from Metropolitan Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport has sparked strong reactions, with the fiercest coming from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) across the Bay.
On Monday, the city of San Francisco threatened legal action against Oakland's port commissioners regarding the name change, citing potential confusion.
Oakland's airport would keep the OAK airport code.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu criticized the proposed name change as "ill-conceived" and sent a letter to the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners, arguing that the inclusion of "San Francisco" infringes on SFO's trademarks.
"San Francisco owns two different trademarks," said Jen Kwart, Chiu's spokeswoman. "It owns San Francisco International Airport and it also owns the SFO logo and design. We feel really confident that the new name will infringe on those."
After the port commission voted to approve the name change, Chiu said in a written statement,""We are disappointed that Oakland did not take the opportunity to work collaboratively with us to develop alternative names and to avoid litigation. We will have further updates in the coming days."
SFO spokesman Doug Yakel attended the meeting and spoke against the name change during public comment.
After the vote, he said "the ball is in the court of the Port of Oakland and that it remains to be seen if the commissioners are going to make good use of the time before the second and final vote or if "they're going to ignore the feedback that's coming to them."
Danny Wan, the port's executive director, says there will continue to be discussions but, regardless of possible legal action, the commission will move forward with its plan to change the name and that it will cost $150,000.