San Francisco on Thursday sued Oakland after officials there voted in favor of changing the name of the city’s airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, saying the change will cause confusion and is already affecting its airport financially.
Last week, the Board of Commissioners for the Port of Oakland voted unanimously to move forward with the name-change and scheduled a second vote for final approval on May 9. The airport is currently called Oakland International Airport.
“We had hoped Oakland would come to its senses, but their refusal to collaborate on an acceptable alternative name leaves us no choice but to file a lawsuit to protect SFO’s trademark,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement.
If you don’t speak the language or aren’t familiar with the area, look at a map. Ask online. Do something to cover your butt. If anyone going to any airport in the world is confused because they don’t understand the local language, then it’s their own fault for not planning their trip carefully. If I (an American) was spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a plane ticket, you can be damn sure I’d triple check the name and location of the airport to be sure it was the one I wanted to go to.
Having said that, San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport is an unnecessarily confusing, cumbersome name. Come on, Oakland. You can do better.