A resolution opposing the renaming of the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport will be considered by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in hopes of avoiding potential confusion and a negative impact on the local economy.
The Port of Oakland announced that its Board of Commissions will consider an ordinance to rename the East Bay airport to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” at its April 11 meeting. In a press release, the airport said the name change would “boost geographic awareness of airport location.”
Concern has been raised over possible confusion considering the strong associated name and brand recognition of San Francisco International Airport. Supervisor Dave Pine, who represents District 1 where SFO is located, said there was a level of urgency to address this.
“This first came to my attention at the end of last week and we wanted to take quick action because the Port of Oakland will be considering this name change later this week,” Pine said. “I wanted to ask my supervisor colleagues for support for this resolution in advance of that meeting.”
Though SFO is owned and operated by the city and county of San Francisco, its location in San Mateo County makes it a critical economic driver, as it’s one of the top five employers in the county. The airport has total business revenue impacts of more than $6 billion and $98 million in direct tax impacts.
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“If this name change is enacted, we will likely see a diversion of flights from SFO to Oakland, which would be detrimental to economic activity around the airport, which is critical,” Pine said.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week opposing the name change. On Monday, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the city will sue the Port of Oakland for alleged trademark infringement if it moves forward with the name change.
“The important thing is to prevent the change in the first place and that’s the purpose of this resolution,” Pine said.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will consider this resolution Tuesday, April 9.
Silliness abounds… Previously, I didn’t care about the name change but now with David Chiu’s hysterical screeching and threat, I’m all for Oakland changing the name of their airport. Go for it, Oakland!
If the full name San Francisco was so appealing, then why is an acronym used instead of the full name San Francisco International airport? And if I were renaming the Oakland airport, I certainly wouldn’t attach the name, San Francisco, considering all the filth and corruption that SF stands for, but I guess Oakland stands for the same filth and corruption. No winners here
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Silliness abounds… Previously, I didn’t care about the name change but now with David Chiu’s hysterical screeching and threat, I’m all for Oakland changing the name of their airport. Go for it, Oakland!
If the full name San Francisco was so appealing, then why is an acronym used instead of the full name San Francisco International airport? And if I were renaming the Oakland airport, I certainly wouldn’t attach the name, San Francisco, considering all the filth and corruption that SF stands for, but I guess Oakland stands for the same filth and corruption. No winners here
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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