Oakland's airport wants our name and I have thoughts.
Okay so, get this, the two-year legal battle between San Francisco and Oakland about the airport naming rights? It's over. And Oakland can, apparently, use "San Francisco" in their airport's name. They settled. As long as they don't make it seem like they're *the* San Francisco International Airport, it's cool. For someone who treks to SFO from the Sunset, often involving a ride on the 28-L, then BART to Millbrae, then the AirTrain, this is just... a lot. It’s like when everyone outside the Bay calls anything east of the Caldecott Tunnel "Oakland." No, fam.
Honestly, the whole thing feels a little desperate from Oakland, right? Like, you have a perfectly good airport, you're across the bay. Why do you need to borrow our brand? It's not like we're trying to add "Oakland" to the Golden Gate Bridge name. This city already has enough identity crises without our neighbors trying to co-opt our name for their own transit hubs. It reminds me of those places that used to be a dive bar, then a tech startup's "collaboration space," and now it's a "curated artisanal toast experience" trying to be something it's not.
What This Means for San Francisco:
* **Confusion, probably:** Imagine trying to explain to your Auntie from Hong Kong that there are *two* airports that have "San Francisco" in the name. She already gets lost trying to find good dim sum in the Outer Richmond. * **More traffic for *us*:** People are already hella confused. Now tourists might accidentally book flights to Oakland thinking it's SFO, realize their mistake, and then try to get *here*. The bridges are already backed up, especially getting over the Bay Bridge on a Friday afternoon. * **The City's brand dilution:** San Francisco is a specific place. It’s not a marketing catchphrase you slap on anything within a 50-mile radius. That's the City, fam — fog, hills, and all.
Look, I get it. Oakland wants to boost tourism and make travel easier. But our identity is not a generic term. It’s a specific vibe, from the foghorns at 3 AM you learn to love to the bison in Golden Gate Park. This city is unique, and frankly, our airport's name should reflect that singularity.
Vivian Leung, MiTL Sports Desk, San Francisco.
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