View of San Francisco from Oakland International Airport (Photo: Evan Symon for California Globe)
Oakland Attempts New Airport Name Second Time Since 2024
‘Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport’: San Francisco and San Francisco Airport officials swiftly denounced the name proposal
By Evan Symon, June 30, 2025 1:34 pm
The Oakland International Airport proposed another new name change during the weekend, adding “San Francisco Bay” back into the name, albeit this time in a different place than before.
According to the Port of Oakland, the airport is now proposing that they be called the “Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.” Like before, officials have wanted to spur more economic growth in Oakland, increase air travel at the airport, and generate critical revenue and visitor spending dollars. In addition, officials hope that the new name is tweaked just enough to avoid another lawsuit from San Francisco, as the new name no longer put San Francisco before Oakland like the first name change idea brought last year with the ‘San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.’
“We are proud to be a central gateway to the Bay Area, and we’re proud to embrace a name that reflects both our local roots and regional reach,” said Director of Aviation at the Port of Oakland Craig Simon over the weekend. “‘Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport’ does both, putting Oakland first and highlighting our central location in the Bay Area for all visitors.”
“The current renaming places Oakland at the forefront of the OAK brand while informing travelers that Oakland is a convenient and logical starting point for travelers to the San Francisco Bay Area,” added the Port of Oakland. “The new name coincides with major renovations at the airport’s retail spaces and amenities that modernize and elevate the customer experience, and the launch of a host of Oakland- and East Bay-themed retail and restaurant concessions at OAK that showcase the airport’s pride in its local businesses and products.”
The first name change plan from “Oakland International Airport” to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” was released in late March 2024, as the Globe reported. According to Oakland Airport officials, the airport’s name is often confusing for travelers, as the name of the airport fails to give the impression just how close the airport is to San Francisco. That lack of understanding, according to airport officials, have also cost the airport major airline routes and passengers. While officials have said that the airport will not be changing their airport code away from OAK or any Oakland visual branding, it would create an overall identity change.
A second name change attempt for the Oakland Airport
San Francisco and San Francisco Airport officials swiftly denounced the name proposal, saying it would only confuse travelers with a mix up over the San Francisco Airport name. Many travelers would also likely book wrongly because of the name change, constituting lost connections and a long travel distance between airports.
A back and forth between the cities ensued, with Oakland claiming the name was more geographic than anything else. However, the name change proved to be very unpopular across the Bay, with groups like the NAACP and tech companies coming out in opposition. As the April 11, 2024 vote by the Port of Oakland neared, Chiu warned them that they would be filing a lawsuit if the name change was approved.
Despite the impending lawsuit and the majority of Bay area residents and lawmakers opposed to the name change, the Port of Oakland went ahead and approved the new name in mid-April 2024 in a unanimous vote. Less than a week later, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a lawsuit against Oakland over trademark infringement. San Francisco then vowed to file a preliminary injunction.
Throughout this time, the name change confusion has led to many travelers being confused between the two airports, with some flying to Oakland instead of San Francisco to their detriment. Meanwhile, City and County of San Francisco v. City of Oakland and Port of Oakland continued to go through the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, with both parties agreeing to formal mediation. San Francisco even held off the injunction, giving Oakland the benefit of the doubt. However, the August 27th mediation ended up going nowhere, leading San Francisco to go back towards a preliminary injunction to stop the name change. This led to the filing of the injunction by Chiu in September and the U.S. District Court granting the injunction.
Ultimately, in November of last year, the new name was formally blocked by the court, with Oakland’s airport having to revert back to Oakland International Airport. Name confusion and Oakland taking San Francisco’s trademark were noted as major reasons in the decision. Port officials accused San Francisco of trying to stifle competition and said that the airport had a right to use the name as they were on the San Francisco Bay. They appealed, but this too was struck down. By early 2025, the name was back to Oakland International for the time being.
This led to the name change proposal over the weekend. However, it is not yet a done deal. The Port of Oakland Board will meet on July 10th to vote on the new name change. Even more important is how San Francisco reacts. Oakland officials hope by just mentioning San Francisco in the name following Oakland’s will be different enough.
“The port still believes that incorporating San Francisco into the airport’s name doesn’t infringe on the city’s trademark. The new name is both responsive to the court’s order and San Francisco officials’ concerns about the previous proposed name,” added Simon. “The new name doesn’t include the entire SFO title, and doesn’t start with San Francisco, but leads with Oakland.
“Many other airports use similar naming conventions to indicate geographic location or proximity. Given these changes, the city should not have any concerns about any purported potential for consumer confusion regarding the proposed name. The three-letter OAK code, and the I Fly OAK logo and branding would remain the same.”
As of Monday morning, San Francisco has yet to take any action against the new name, with city officials saying that they are currently looking into the matter.
“We are just learning about this development and will assess any next steps to ensure San Francisco International Airport’s trademark is protected,” explained San Francisco city attorney spokeswoman Jen Kwart over the weekend.
Should the new Oakland San Francisco International Airport name ultimately be approved, it will come into effect once all legal matter are settled.
“Zuloo” is a popular property name.
Probably the only way to end the madness in Oakland is to actually BREAK Oakland up into several smaller cities. It is a unmanageable mess. I have a friend that was robbed at gun point with the Best Buy guys in front of his house, had his car stolen, had his home burglarized, and his neighbor was whacked a few years ago in a drive buy trimming his trees a few years ago on Juneteenth. Perp was on camera but he had NO PLATES on his car cuz they are racist or something. Yea..that case went cold and his neighbors went right back to never talking about the guy because it might have implied a racial overtone or something. The Lesbian neighbor went right back to frantically repainting the illegal BLM logo on the street. The “Pandora Effect” of brining in tech jobs has been a spectacular failure and we probably overbuilt office buildings on the Peninsula anyway. For DECADES people downtown have put up the stupid progressive signs in their front shops not because they really give a sh*t but so that their windows don’t get broken during a “protest”. The progressive gig is up…I leaned how this game was played in early 80s West Berlin when RAF acted crazy and I noticed even as a kid that all the “leftists” were just a bunch of sh*tbags. Do not ask to politely to bring order…just drop the hammer and bring order, the population will quietely think “THANK GOODNESS” just like my National Guard experience in 1992 LA Riots or my Chilean coworker that was in college during Allende and Pinochet cleaned things up! Tic Tic Tic…it’s time.
The only thing that would raise the profile and attract passengers/flights to Oakland International Airport is for the city of Oakland to get its act together. The progressive train to nowhere has derailed and its time to uphold the rule of law. A cosmetic name change won’t mean anything unless Oakland becomes a place that people feel safe living, working and visiting.
Oakland is in a Democrat induced doom loop of out of control crime and homelessness. No one in their right mind wants to be anywhere near that Democrat hellhole.
They should learn the ooda loop.
Hope this helps.