A judge ruled yesterday that Oaklands airport must immediately stop using the nameSan Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, which it adopted earlier this year, and revert back to the name Oakland International Airport, according to NBC News.

　　It was pretty ballsy of Oakland to tuck the wording San Francisco Bay in front of its long-existing name. Of course, it hopes to benefit from association with the more well-known city and capture more passengers who want to get to the Bay Area. In some ways, it makes sense: When you check Google Flights for New York City, youre given three options (LaGuardia, JFK and Newark, although Newark is actually in New Jersey) and when you fly into Chicago, you may mean OHare or Midway. Large cities can support more than one airport.

　　But theres concern that travelers could be confused and book a flight into Oakland, thinking its San Francisco (rather than the San Francisco Bay Area) and then have a stressful time working their way across the bay to the city. To be fair, depending on traffic, its basically six of one, half dozen of another getting to San Franciscos downtown from either OAK or SFO. Recently, I plugged in the estimated travel time by car from both airports to downtowns Civic Center. Although its 19.8 miles from OAK and 13.7 from SFO, Oaklands drive time only added one minute over San Franciscos 43 minutes on a Thursday early evening (plus you would get to enjoy the beautiful upper deck of the Bay Bridge).

　　There is a more distinct difference, though, when you look at ride times on BART. It takes about an hour to get from Oakland airports BART station to Civic Center, and only about a half-hour from San Francisco airports BART station.

　　The debate will probably rage on for a while; the injunction is technically just temporary, and Oakland is likely to appeal the ruling.

　　Also, we have to point out another interesting wrinkle: SFO actually isnt in San Francisco, either. According to the airports website, The airport is located about 14 miles south of San Francisco primarily in unincorporated San Mateo County on the San Francisco Peninsula next to the San Francisco Bay. Prior to 1931, its name was the Mills Field Municipal Airport of San Francisco.

　　If Oakland is ultimately able to overturn the judges ruling,wed personally suggest they need to amplify the message that the flights are going into Oakland and not San Francisco: No one wants to feel tricked. We can just imagine the bewilderment when the captain announces to the clicked-in passengers that the flight is going to Oakland when some passengers might have thought it was going to San Francisco. Another option could be for Oakland to better advertise its proximity to San Francisco while still keeping, with pride, its name.