San Francisco is suing Oakland over that city's planned use of "San Francisco" in its airport name, alleging that the renaming will cause "widespread passenger confusion and "avoidable travel mishaps."
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against the City of Oakland on Thursday, a week after the Port of Oakland unanimously approved plans to change the official name of Metropolitan Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. The airport code, OAK, would not change.
In the complaint filed in the Northern District of California, Chiu argues that adding the words "San Francisco" to OAK's official name will only serve to puzzle the flying public— particularly international fliers unfamiliar with the region—who may accidentally book flights to OAK thinking they are flying into San Francisco International (SFO), and may end up missing connections, rental car reservations and facing other costly delays.
The suit specifically mentions travelers headed to or from SFO via Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), who may also be confused because the light-rail system uses "San Francisco" as one direction in which its trains travel and SFO and OAK are on opposite ends of the same rail line.
The suit further notes that at least one airline, Azores Air, has already started using the new name on their booking site, causing SFO "economic harm" by allowing OAK to "receive substantial profits based on the strength of SFO's reputation and services," pointing to several awards won by SFO over the years for everything from its customer service to dining options.
SFO, which is the second-busiest airport on the West Coast and serves as a major entry point to the U.S. for travelers coming from Asia and other points east, was only notified of Oakland's proposed name change 30 minutes before the first press release went out, the complaint alleges. SFO's airport director immediately objected and offered to discuss the matter further, but officials with the Port of Oakland did not respond, according to the complaint.
Both airports serve the Bay Area, though SFO is significantly bigger and busier, carrying 50 million passengers last year compared to OAK's 11 million. While both serve international carriers, nearly all overseas flights bound for the area fly into SFO's giant International Terminal—a point noted by Clint Henderson, the managing editor of the travel site The Points Guy.
"Could there be some confusion? Absolutely. But the truth is there are very few international flights going into OAK," he told Newsweek, with the majority of those coming from Mexico.
Henderson said he suspects the two sides will reach an agreement that could include modifying OAK's new name to put "San Francisco" somewhere other than in the front—similar to how a tiff between Orlando-area airports was resolved several years ago.
"I don't think San Francisco will be successful here," he said. "OAK is physically on the San Francisco Bay." Meanwhile, SFO is not even technically in San Fransisco, but some 15 miles south in San Mateo County.
The Port of Oakland said in response to the suit that it plans to "vigorously defend our right to claim our spot on the San Francisco Bay. We are standing up for Oakland and our East Bay community."
In a previous statement to Newsweek after the name change was first approved last week, the Port defended the renaming as a simple business decision: "The proposed name modification "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport" is both pro-Oakland and pro-jobs. Our goal is to boost local jobs and economic activity for Oakland and the region."
"The whole point of this for Oakland is to take some of San Francisco's traffic," Henderson said. "It's understandable, from Oakland's point-of-view, why they want some of that business."
Oakland is currently struggling with a confluence of intertwined economic and social issues, from public safety to a slow post-pandemic recovery of its downtown. The city has lost all three of its professional sports teams in recent years.
San Francisco, for its part, is dealing with many of the same problems, though its population and tax base is significantly wealthier.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Chiu acknowledged Oakland's struggles: "We want to see the entire Bay Area thrive as a tourist destination and expand our offerings to visitors, but the renaming is not a legal or practical way to go about it."
Barring an injunction by the court, as requested by Chiu, the new name will go into effect after the Port of Oakland gives its final approval at a meeting on May 9.
Update 4/18/24, 3:44 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from OAK.
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