Mathews: Oakland, San Francisco airport legal dispute is just word play

I’ve never much cared for San Francisco International Airport — until SFO courageously stood up for truth and accuracy in airport names.

Last month, SFO’s leaders filed suit to stop the Port of Oakland from changing Oakland International Airport’s name to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.”

Oakland justified the name change by saying it wanted to educate travelers unfamiliar with California that their city sits on the bay. But SFO’s lawsuit accuses its East Bay competitor of trademark infringement in a bid to grab more air traffic. SFO also alleges the name change creates the misimpression that Oakland is in San Francisco. It is not.

I admire SFO’s bold commitment to defending geographic integrity. Which is why I’m excited to see the airport advance the same principle, by changing its own inaccurate name.

I can hear it now: My Southwest Airlines pilot asks me to return my seat back to its full upright position — and welcomes me to San Mateo County International Airport.

Because SFO, just like Oakland, isn’t in San Francisco. It’s in unincorporated San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco.

As a lifelong SFO passenger, I can testify that taking the San Francisco out of SFO’s name would benefit the flying public. Because it’s actually quite difficult to get into or out of San Francisco via the airport with San Francisco in its name.

SFO’s problems start with flight delays. For years, it’s had among the highest rates of delayed flights in the United States. Other badly delayed airports typically have snow or severe winter weather. Of course, SFO has fog, but fog alone doesn’t make so many flights late. It’s the poor organization of the airport itself. Its two main, parallel runways are too close together to permit landings at the same time. So, when visibility is low, there are delays.

And if fog and poor organization don’t trap you at SFO, the airport’s design will. As a result of expansion two decades ago, the airport feels bloated and overbuilt, with too much distance between ground transportation and gate. Getting to your flight at SFO requires slow rides on an internal Air Train and long walks through large, empty halls. Travel web sites routinely advise SFO passengers to arrive two hours early.

Transportation options outside the airport are no picnic, either. SFO sits at a traffic chokehold of crammed freeways. Public buses stop at the terminals, but the main line, SamTrans 292, only shows up every 30 minutes or so. Caltrain, the peninsula commuter line, doesn’t stop at the airport.

BART trains have a station inside the airport, which is nice. But many trains on that line don’t go into the airport, ending their routes four stops earlier at Daly City instead. And there are so many BART stops between SFO and downtown San Francisco that the trip can take nearly an hour.

When I need to go to downtown San Francisco, I fly into Oakland. It’s faster and more reliable. Oakland’s two terminals are small and efficient, so that it’s just two minutes from gate to ground transportation. The airport has a connector train to BART that can take you into San Francisco in just five stops, or down to Fremont and San Jose with ease.

You might even say that Oakland is a better San Francisco airport than San Francisco’s airport.

Of course, I would never say that. No way. Because your truth-telling columnist is 100% behind SFO’s righteous defense of geographic accuracy in airport names.

But I will say this: Until this cross-bay airport dispute is over, and until SFO follows its own principle and changes its name to San Mateo County International, I am changing my own name to honor the Bay Area airport I actually enjoying flight into.

So, for the time being, you can call me San Francisco Bay Joe.

San Francisco Bay Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zócalo Public Square.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Mathews: Oakland, San Francisco airport legal dispute is word play