Oakland International Airport is considering a rebrand by associating itself with the nearby, more popular and well-known city of San Francisco.
The city sits just 12 miles away across the Bay that shares its name, but Oakland’s reputation is in tatters having become a hot bed of violent crime in recent years and symbol of urban decay that has led fast food chains to shutter and workers in the city requiring bodyguards.
It is no wonder then that the new name being considered, announced by the Port of Oakland on Friday as San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
San Francisco has had it’s own issues to deal with including a spate of homelessness resulting in tent cities and crime, but Oakland’s crime wave appears unceasing with levels of violent crime at all-time highs.
Oakland Airport is now turning to its more marketable neighbor in a bid to boost its own fortunes.
Oakland International Airport aims to rebrand by aligning itself with neighboring San Francisco as violent crime has sullied the city’s reputation
Oakland Airport is now turning to its more marketable neighbor in a bid to boost its own fortunes. Pictured, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
The airport website already boasts of its position being just 25 minutes from downtown San Francisco and airport bosses believe including the city in its official name will help drive business, while burying Oakland’s sullied name.
Currently, the airport’s full name is Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, but officials believe that altering the name will ‘raise awareness’ of its location within the Bay Area.
‘Adding ‘San Francisco Bay’ to the name will improve travelers’ geographic awareness of the airport and help us reach and succeed in new markets,’ said Barbara Leslie, president of the Oakland Board of Commissioners in a cleverly spun statement.
One goal of airport bosses is to increase the amount of direct flights being offered, especially on international routes which only include Canada and Mexico on its list of ‘international’ destinations.
Officials say more than half of all international travelers and one third of domestic passengers have no clue about the airport’s Bay Area location.
The proposal will see it renamed as San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport and comes amid Oakland’s struggle with rising violent crime rates
Officials say more than half of all international travelers and one third of domestic passengers have no clue about the airport’s Bay Area location
‘Market research and interviews with airline partners have shown that routes have not performed as well as they should have due to the lack of geographic awareness, making air carriers reluctant to sustain and add new routes in Oakland,’ Port of Oakland Interim Director of Aviation Craig Simon said to KRON4.
‘From July 2008 to March 2024, the Airport added 54 new routes; 39 of these and six pre-existing destinations were lost.’
Southwest Airlines, is the biggest air carrier at the airport with an 81 percent market share flying 8.5 million passengers a year, is supportive of the proposed name change.
Port Commissioners will need to approve the change at the upcoming meeting on April 11 before any formal renaming can take place.
The three-letter airport code, OAK, and visual brand will remain the same.
Footage shows how the woman was run up on by men, who exit a car before removing several items from her person. During an ensuing struggle, the woman bravely hangs on – before being struck by one of the robbers’ weapons
Data shows the city’s current crime epidemic – in which rates across nearly every major category have increased dramatically since well before the pandemic
It makes sense that Oakland would want to turn to San Francisco to help boost business with rising crime in the California Democrat-run city, leading many businesses to flee the area altogether.
Data from Oakland’s police force reveal that robberies increased by a massive 38 percent from 2022 to 2023.
Burglary is up 24 percent while motor vehicle theft in particular saw a major rise, with the force reporting 44 percent more in 2023 compared with 2022 – an all-time record.
There were 8,675 car theft cases in the city in 2022, compared with 12,956 last year. Burglaries also jumped 23 percent from the previous year.
Those who live and work in the city do not feel safe. Violent crimes have also spiked by 21 percent in 12 months.
The city has reported homicides shooting up 80 percent in July 2023 compared to 2019 rates.
Few will forget the shocking footage from last summer of a woman being pistol-whipped and dragged across gravel by two thugs.
The unidentified woman was left with severe injuries after being confronted by two men who tried to grab several items from her, including her purse, before she was. violently struck with the gun.
She was then pulled along by her purse as both men rifled through her pockets.
Earlier this month, a retired judge hit out at the Mayor of Oakland Shen Thao claiming she had ‘ruined the city’.
An exclusive report for DailyMail.com revealed that Oakland has potentially the most dangerous square mile for crime in all of the U.S.
The In-N-Out sits in a square mile with several gas stations that cops say are the targets of around a dozen violent crimes every day
In July 2023, months after Thao took office, the Oakland Police Department was forced to issue a public safety advisory citing an uptick in home invasion robberies’
This Denny’s – the only one in Oakland – closed its doors last month after 54 years
Earlier this month, a retired judge hit out at the Mayor of Oakland Shen Thao, seen here, claiming she had ‘ruined the city’
Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte slammed the mayor while running a petition to have Thao removed from office.
She told KVTU: ‘People who say give her more time. More time to do what? She has ruined our city.’
The former judge added: ‘She didn’t inherit all these problems. She caused a number of problems.’
Harbin-Forte is heading the petition to have Thao recalled as mayor, with those looking to have her dumped needing to obtain 25,000 signatures by July.
An exclusive report for DailyMail.com revealed that Oakland has potentially the most dangerous square mile for crime in all of America.
Three gas stations and fast-food joints that surround Oakland Airport have become notorious for vehicle thefts.
Within a single square mile, cops claim criminals strike a dozen times or more per day, every day, mainly targeting victims who are headed to and from the airport.
Also shuttered was the city’s only In N Out Burger due to soaring crime – the only restaurant the chain has ever shuttered in its history.
A 54-year-old branch of Denny’s has closed its doors in Oakland last month amid threats to ‘the safety and wellbeing’ of staff and customers.
Denny’s closure follows that of Subway and Starbucks drive thrus – all of which have become magnets for car thieves.
A police patrol car is stationed at the Shell gas station on Hegenberger Road in Oakland, California, in an attempt to deter thieves behind a spike in vehicle thefts
Police have also stepped up patrols at a nearby Chevron garage which is also a notorious hotspot. Police say they are powerless to pursue the criminals because smash-and-grab thefts are not considered ‘violent crime’
A spokesperson for In-N-Out previously told SFGATE that customers and employees experienced regular car break-ins, property damage and armed robberies.
A Shell gas station about a mile from the Denny’s has also become a hotspot for vehicle break-ins.
Police say the criminals, who operate in well-organized groups, follow the same playbook: a spotter keeps watch for targets, usually rentals headed to or from the airport, as they pull up at the gas stations.
They then alert accomplices, who pull up in a vehicle when the targets start to pump fuel. Often, they smash a rear window or pop the trunk of unlocked vehicles before making off with luggage and valuables. The thefts take just seconds.
The spike has earned the Shell the nickname ‘America’s most dangerous gas station’. The two Chevron sites are also top contenders for the unwanted title.
One shocking video from the In-N-Out parking lot shows a thief smash into a black SUV in broad daylight. The crook leans, feet off the ground, through the vehicle’s rear window and snatches up several items before escaping into a waiting getaway car as more than a dozen onlookers watch.
Another clip from outside the Shell shows a thief deploy exactly the same method to steal a backpack from the trunk. Feet of the ground, he leans into a smashed rear window to scoop up loot before making an escape.