Oakland Port commissioners approve airport name change - and San Francisco is not pleased

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland's airport is one step closer to having a new name: Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport. 

And San Francisco is not pleased. 

What we know:

The Port of Oakland voted unanimously on the name change Thursday afternoon. 

A final vote will take place later this month to make it official.

What they're saying:

"Really the biggest benefit is getting that geographical identifier," said Oakland Airport Director of Aviation Craig Simon. "People didn't really know where Oakland Airport was, and this really puts us on the map."

Before the vote was taken on the newest name proposal, which was first announced last month, there was some vocal pushback at Thursday's meeting from SFO. 

"We are here to object to this latest airport naming proposal," said SFO airport spokesman Doug Yakel, "that sows confusion and capitalizes on San Francisco's brand."

Simon countered: "It's really not confusing at all." 

Oakland officials argue they have every right to name their airport after the body of water it sits on. 

"It's all about the San Francisco Bay," Simon said. "It is not about San Francisco. It's about how people get into the San Francisco Bay Area."

Yakel also took issue with what he called a lack of communication on Oakland's part. 

"Once again, Oakland announced another renaming proposal just days prior to taking a vote instead of having a good-faith conversation with San Francisco," Yakel said. 

Mixed reaction from Oakland Airport travelers

Some travelers say they're all for the change. 

"I'm okay with it," said Sallyann Kovacs of Hayward. ‘Oakland San Francisco Bay’. It's the San Francisco bay, is it not? It would put it more on the map in a way."

But others are skeptical the new name will take off. 

"I just think it is confusing," said Randy Baker. "There's already a San Francisco. I mean, if you fly into New York, Newark is there for a lot of people, but it's not ‘New York Newark’." 

Name change debate since 2024

The backstory:

The two airports – SFO and OAK – have been verbally sparring for more than a year. 

In May 2024, Oakland International Airport announced that it wanted to change its name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, saying that putting San Francisco first would draw in more tourists who don't know that Oakland is actually a lot closer to wine country, for example, than SFO is. 

San Francisco quickly sued, saying that Oakland was infringing on its trademark name. 

In November 2024, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson sided with San Francisco, saying that it is likely to prevail in the pending court case on the claim that the name change "falsely implies affiliation, connection and association" between the two airports, which go by the three-letter codes of SFO and OAK.

Then, last month on June 27, Oakland announced it was changing its name again, "putting Oakland first."

Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland has not withdrawn its "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport" name in court.

That makes dropping any lawsuit against Oakland complicated, said Jen Kwart, spokesperson for San Francisco Attorney David Chiu. 

"It’s not that simple—we can’t drop the lawsuit right now even if we wanted to," Kwart said. "Oakland is still fighting for last year’s name in court. Oakland chose to appeal the lower court’s preliminary injunction order in our favor that prevented them from using last year’s name. They appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit and are still actively pursuing that appeal. We have to defend and respond to that appeal."

Yakel said SFO is still trying to determine its next steps.

"We do note, however, that it was the Port of Oakland that chose to escalate this litigation and appeal the district court’s preliminary injunction order in San Francisco’s favor to the Ninth Circuit," Yakel said. "The Port is still actively pursuing that appeal, and San Francisco will continue to litigate that appeal and defend its brand."

Local legal expert weighs in

Amir Adibi, a local patent attorney with Adibi IP Group, says OAK is likely to run into more legal trouble, even with a name that puts ‘Oakland’ first. 

"Fundamentally, San Francisco is still in the name," said Adibi. "You are allowed to have a geographically descriptive name. However, not one that is misleading. And so that is the issue."

What's next:

SFO says it's working to determine its next steps. 

Oakland International AirportSan Francisco International Airport