Oakland, SFO End 2-Year Name Fight

Oakland's airport can keep "San Francisco" in its new name, but with some strings attached. A two-year trademark fight between the neighboring cities ended with a settlement announced Tuesday that lets the facility stick with "Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport"—which the Mercury News notes it's been "quietly using"—not the earlier "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport" that was approved by Oakland officials in March 2024 and spurred the suit.

The deal comes with a number of parameters, reports the New York Times: "San Francisco" can't be emphasized in bigger or flashier fonts, can't appear alone in promotions, and must always follow "Oakland" in the full name and have "Bay" attached to it. The AP reports Oakland also can't use the word "International" in its name despite the fact that it offers international flights.

Oakland leaders pushed the rebrand to remind out-of-towners how close the airport is to San Francisco and lure traffic from the region's dominant hub. So far, the payoff is unclear: The Times reports that while the new name has been in use since last summer, passenger counts were down about 14% year-over-year as of February, even as domestic travel nationwide held steady.