SFO strikes back against Oakland Airport with lawsuit over 'San Francisco Bay' name change

OAK officials believe the airport’s lower profile has made it tougher for the travel hub to retain routes. From July 2008 to March 2024, Oakland added 54 new routes but later lost 39 of them.

San Francisco airport officials, however, are concerned that settling on a new name with “San Francisco” at the beginning will cause confusion.

“In particular, Oakland Airport’s proposal to include ‘San Francisco’ at the front of its new name, closely followed by the words ‘International Airport’ is problematic, as it will almost certainly cause confusion among consumers and the public generally,” San Francisco stated in its lawsuit.

Officials with SFO and the city of San Francisco said they attempted to negotiate a non-judicial resolution to the proposed name change.

“San Francisco, seeking to avoid the costs of litigation for both sides, has and continues to urge Oakland to seriously consider such alternatives,” stated the lawsuit. “Indeed, San Francisco has offered on multiple occasions to engage in a constructive dialogue” regarding a solution to the situation.

SFO, which is located south of its namesake city in San Mateo County, noted that it has operated since 1927 and for most of those years used San Francisco Airport or San Francisco International Airport as its name.

“Through San Francisco’s ongoing activities, the San Francisco International Airport mark has become extensively well-known by passengers and the air-travel industry, both nationally and internationally,” San Francisco stated in the lawsuit.

“We are going all-in with Oakland,” Barbara Leslie, president of the port’s Board of Commissioners, said on April 11 just before a unanimous vote for the new moniker. “We want to keep money in the local economy.”