Oakland International Airport

Oakland International Airport
Oakland control tower and terminal
IATA: OAK – ICAO: KOAK – FAA: OAK
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Port of Oakland
Serves		East Bay, California
Location		Oakland, California
Hub for		FedEx Express
Elevation AMSL		9 ft / 3 m
Coordinates		37°43′17″N 122°13′15″W / 37.72139°N 122.22083°W / 37.72139; -122.22083Coordinates: 37°43′17″N 122°13′15″W / 37.72139°N 122.22083°W / 37.72139; -122.22083
Website		www.oaklandairport.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
11/29	10,000	3,048	Asphalt
9R/27L	6,212	1,893	Asphalt
9L/27R	5,454	1,662	Asphalt
15/33	3,372	1,028	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations			412,444
Based aircraft			277
Sources: FAA[1], airport website[2]

Oakland International Airport (IATA: OAK, ICAO: KOAK, FAA LID: OAK), also known as Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, is a public airport located 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi)^[1] south of the central business district of Oakland, a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is owned by the Port of Oakland.^[1][3]

One of three international airports in the San Francisco Bay Area, airlines serving Oakland International provide service to numerous destinations in the United States, as well as Mexico. Oakland is a focus city--with the airport as a crew base and the 8th busiest^[4]--for Southwest Airlines. Among the other airlines present, Alaska Airlines (combined with sister-carrier Horizon Air) and Jetblue Airways are the 2nd and 3rd busiest carriers respectively. However, their number of arrivals and departures are much smaller percentage-wise in comparison to Southwest.^[5].

OAK has proven a popular alternative to San Francisco International. In 2008, 11.5 million passengers used the airport.^[6] Another convenience of OAK over SFO--in relation to the success of Southwest--is OAK's history of a high, on-time arrival percentage (of total flights inbound), despite many days of rainy and foggy weather for some months in each city. For five of the first eight months of 2009, OAK has been credited with the highest on-time arrival percentage among North American airports.^[7][8]

Oakland International is popular with low cost airlines and in recent years has been one of the nation's fastest growing airports. A $300 million expansion and renovation project was completed in spring 2008. The project included the addition of five gates to Terminal 2; enhanced food, beverage and retail concessions; a new baggage claim area; expanded areas for ticketing and security screening; and significant improvements to the roadways, curbsides and parking lots.

Terminal 1 is currently undergoing a $200 million upgrade. This building will be renovated and seismically retrofitted over the next few years. Future improvements include larger restrooms; replacing concourse carpeting with terrazzo floors; new airline ticketing and check-in areas; food, beverage and retail concession improvements; and improved universal access and overall comfort and convenience enhancements.

In addition to airline operations, Oakland International is a large general aviation airport. Airline operations use the South Field (runway 11/29), while general aviation uses the North Field (runways 9R/27L, 9L/27R, and 15/33). In 2008, OAK had 269,631 aircraft movements (take-offs or landings), and was the 35th busiest among the major North American airports.

History

Construction of the airport began in 1927, and the airport was dedicated by Charles Lindbergh 17 September. In its early days, Oakland was the departing point of several historic flights, including Charles Kingsford Smith's historic US-Australia flight in 1928, and Amelia Earhart's final flight in 1937.

Boeing Air Transport (a predecessor of United Airlines) began scheduled flights to Oakland in December 1927. It was joined by Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1932.

Aerial view of NAS Oakland in the mid-1940s

Advertising the Naval Air Reserve at NAS Oakland, 1949.

In 1943, the U.S. Armed Forces took over Oakland Airport and transformed it into an airlift base for military flights to the Pacific islands, ordering all scheduled service to move to San Francisco International Airport. After the war, airlines slowly returned to Oakland: Western Airlines began flights in 1946, and was followed by American Airlines, TWA, and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA).

The airport's first Jet Age airline terminal (now Terminal 1) was opened in 1962, part of a $20 million expansion and renovation project. The 16-gate facility featured the airport's first jetways. During the Vietnam War, World Airways shuttled thousands of military passengers through Oakland to their bases in Southeast Asia, and an International Arrivals facility was built, allowing the airport to handle scheduled flights outside the United States for the first time.

After the war, Oakland's traffic slumped, but airline deregulation prompted several low-fare carriers to begin regional flights into the airport. This rapid increase prompted the airport to build a $16.3 million second terminal, Lionel J. Wilson Terminal 2, with seven new gates for PSA and AirCal service.

FedEx Express opened a cargo base in Oakland in 1988, which is now one of the busiest air freight terminals in the United States. In the 1990s, Southwest Airlines opened a crew base in Oakland, and expanded its flights to become the airport's dominant passenger carrier. The airport does have international arrival facilities, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Mexicana Airlines has provided service between Oakland and cities in Mexico for many years. In the past, Corsairfly served Orly Airport in Paris France and Papeete, Tahiti and Martinair served Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

United Airlines vacated its 300,000 sq ft (30,000 m²) Oakland Maintenance Center in May 2003 and transferred work to its remaining maintenance hub at San Francisco International Airport.

Oakland International Airport began renovations to its terminals in 2004, including adding five gates in Terminal 2. The new concourse partially opened in fall 2006, with full opening by spring 2007, and a new baggage claim in Terminal 2 opened in summer 2006. The former Terminal 2 baggage claim has been replaced by a renovated and expanded security screening area. As part of this program, airport roadways, curbsides and parking lots were renovated by the end of 2008.

In 2008, Oakland suffered a series of service cutbacks due to high fuel costs, particularly more so compared to other Bay Area airports. In just a few days, Oakland's numerous non-stops to Hawaii were entirely eliminated following the liquidation of ATA Airlines (ATA) and Aloha Airlines, although Hawaiian Airlines introduced one daily flight to Honolulu a month later. American Airlines and Continental Airlines both ended service to Oakland. Southwest Airlines eliminated six flights in November, United Airlines ended service to Los Angeles on November 2, and TACA ended service to San Salvador on September 1. All of these service reductions have resulted in the cancellation of a project to build a third terminal.^[9]

New and Upcoming Service for 2009-'10

Volaris

Despite the setbacks associated with select airlines having pulled out, OAK is in position for a major boost. The low-cost Mexican airline Volaris began service between OAK and the airline's three main locations: Guadalajara (GDL), and Toluca (TLC--near Mexico City) began July 16th, while service with Tijuana began in late summer. This latest-commenced route made history, as a nonstop-first for the Bay Area.^[10] Tijuana acts as a "funnel" connection as well, which helps link Volaris from OAK to several other Mexican destinations, not designated as connections via TLC and GDL-bound flights.^[11]. Los Angeles International Airport is the only other airport which has started Volaris service as early as July, ^[12], but geographically limited to nonstop service with only TLC and GDL. The upcoming codeshare partnership between Southwest and Volaris, projected to begin during mid-late 2010, makes the latter a key addition to OAK.^{[13] [14]}

Allegiant

After having pulled out of San Francisco International months earlier, discount carrier Allegiant Air inaugurated service at OAK in February with Bellingham, Washington (with close proximity to Vancouver, British Columbia) twice a week. Service is however, doubled from two to four arrivals and departures each through the summer months. Later in the year, the airline also added service between OAK and Eugene Airport in Oregon twice a week.

Alaska and Hawaiian

Adding to Hawaiian Airlines' service to Honolulu, the airport resumed nonstop service with two other Hawaiian Island destinations in early November: Kona and Kahului (Maui), via Alaska Airlines. Such service to both locations has been nonexistent since ATA ceased operations.^[15]. Hawaiian will also serve Kahului seasonally, starting in the summer of 2010.

• For the listing and more information about upcoming service, see the following table.

Airlines and destinations

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900 at its gate, and a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 in the background.

Oakland International Airport has two terminals, connected by an airside walkway:

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 has 17 Gates: 1, 3, 4-7, 8-8A, 9-9A, 10-12, 14-14A, 15, 17

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 has 13 Gates: 20 - 32

AirAsia (X)

On September 14th, 2009, OAK was the scene where Malaysia-based AirAsia honored its new partners: the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. The airline's affiliate, AirAsia X had one of their planes of executives and crew members "touch down" at OAK in acknowledgment of the to-be announced sponsorship. AirAsia executives have new optimism that service between the U.S. and the airline's main base in Kuala Lumpur, could possibly happen earlier than originally expected.^{[17] [18] [19]}

Facilities and aircraft

Oakland International Airport covers an area of 2,600 acres (1,100 ha) which contains four runways^[1]:

• South Field (Commercial and cargo operations):
  • Runway 11/29: 10,000 ft × 150 ft (3,048 m × 46 m) (3,048 x 46 m), surface: asphalt
• North Field (general aviation operations):
  • Runway 9R/27L: 6,212 ft × 150 ft (1,893 m × 46 m), surface: asphalt
  • Runway 9L/27R: 5,454 ft × 150 ft (1,662 m × 46 m), surface: asphalt
  • Runway 15/33: 3,372 ft × 75 ft (1,028 m × 23 m), surface: asphalt

A number of general aviation FBOs are located on the North Field:

• Transient aircraft support
  • Business Jet Center
  • Kaiser Air
• Flight schools
  • Alameda Aero Club^[20]
  • Lou Fields Aviation
  • Oakland Flyers^[21]
• Repair operations
  • Oakland Aircraft Maintenance^[22]
• Other
  • Aerial Advertising Services
  • Oakland Aviation Museum, formerly Western Aerospace Museum
  • Pacific Aerial Surveys

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2008, the airport had 269,631 aircraft operations, an average of 740 per day: 46% general aviation (188,064), 42% scheduled commercial, 12% air taxi and <1% military. There are 277 aircraft based at this airport: 51% single-engine, 34% multi-engine, 10% jet and 4% helicopter.

Ground Transportation

Public

Oakland International is not yet directly connected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, but AirBART shuttle buses and AC Transit's Lines 50 (final destination Bay Fair BART, not Fruitvale BART) and 805 buses take passengers between the terminal and the Coliseum/Oakland Airport station. Since the airport's renovation, AirBART now has a single stop located halfway between terminals 1 and 2 on the third curb. The bus has a layover of a few minutes depending on the passenger load. AC Transit has one quick stop with no layover at the same location between the terminals but on the fourth curb. AirBART generally comes more often than AC Transit buses. AirBART and Line 50 run during regular hours from about 5am to midnight, whereas Line 805 is a night bus that runs from midnight to 5 am.

A people mover or monorail connection between BART and the terminal was planned — starting at the beginning of the new millennium — as a faster, more convenient method than AirBART. The project's planning ended during November, 2008. This was mainly because of the project's cost, coupled with an economic recession. A less expensive plan, and anticipation of better economic times ahead, has kept BART's hope alive; continuing to find a faster way to get passengers from the trains to the terminal, in a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly manner.^[23][24]. On 7th October 2009, Oakland City Council gave its approval for the 3.2 mile extension of BART from Oakland Coliseum station to the airport. Completion date for the project is set for 2013.^[25]

Road

Oakland International is accessible from Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway) which is 2 miles (3 km) away. The airport can be reached by exiting Hegenberger Road or 98th Avenue heading west; both streets converge into Airport Road before looping around in front of the terminals.

Recent Publicity

Military aircraft mistake

On September 27, 2007, Oakland airport authorities ordered North American Airlines Flight 1777, carrying 200 U.S. Marines home from duty in Iraq, to park 400 yards (370 m) away from the airport terminal and refused to allow the troops to enter the terminal, although they were allowed off the aircraft to stretch their legs and use restrooms.^[26] The airliner had stopped in Oakland to refuel and reprovision. Oakland authorities stated that their decision was based on the fact that, "The airport received information that the passengers were not screened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at their originating airport and that weapons were on-board the aircraft." The airplane's passengers, however, had been screened by TSA at John F. Kennedy International Airport and no further screening was necessary. Oakland Airport officials apologized for the mistake - "There was no disrespect that was intended," said Omar Benjamin, executive director of the Port of Oakland, which runs the airport. "There was confusion. There were mistakes that were made."^[26] However, U.S. Representative John Mica stated that, "We believe this is not an isolated incident" and asked the United States Department of Transportation (DoT) to investigate.^[27]

The DoT released the report of its investigation on January 30, 2008. The investigation concluded that the airport did not break any laws or regulations in the incident. The investigation found that the contract under which military chartered transport aircraft are serviced at the airport does not require access to the terminal facilities for military passengers. The report stated that airport management was concerned that they could not provide "an adequate level of escort and control of such a large group of military personnel in or around the terminal area". The airport personnel were also concerned over the proper safeguarding and securing of the weapons carried on the military transport. The report further stated that a contributing factor was a lack of communication and coordination between the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, especially with regard to security screenings of military personnel on the chartered flights. The report recommended that a task force be established with representatives from Homeland, Defense, and Transportation departments and airlines and airports to develop a uniform process for handling military personnel on all military chartered flights at U.S. airports. Commenting on the report, Mica stated, "The shocking thing is that there is no protocol for handling our returning troops, and at Oakland they got a very rude welcome. We just need to get some regular order of the process so we don't have a recurrence of what we saw happen here."^[28]

Runway Safety

Oakland airport has performed better than other local airports at avoiding runway incursions, with only one incursion reported during the year ending September 30, 2007.^[29]

See also

• List of airports in the San Francisco Bay Area
• List of airports in California
• California World War II Army Airfields

References

External links

San Francisco Bay Area portal

• Oakland International Airport - official site
• Airport Interactive Map: Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau
• OAK WiFi Internet Service
• FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 19 Nov 2009
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KOAK
  • ASN accident history for OAK
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KOAK
  • FAA current OAK delay information