News:

Oakland to increase flights as SFO’s expansion plans waylay

Staff and Wire Report
Monday February 18, 2002
The Planet needs your help.
Give to the
Fund for Local Reporting! OAKLAND — Oakland International Airport has announced that its volume of daily flights is expected to increase over the next six months.

Airport spokeswoman Cyndy Johnson said Friday that American Airlines has announced the inauguration of twice-daily nonstop service between Oakland Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport beginning March 2. Also, as of Feb. 5, American reinstated nonstop service between Oakland and Los Angeles with six daily flights.

JetBlue Airways continues to expand its Bay Area presence with the addition of a third daily nonstop flight to Kennedy Airport on March 10 and another daily nonstop later this spring, Johnson said. The fledgling airline also plans new twice-daily, transcontinental service between Oakland and Washington Dulles International Airport this spring.

Southwest Airlines will expand its Oakland operation with three new daily nonstop flights from Chicago Midway Airport beginning April 7.

In addition, SunTrips will relocate its Hawaii program from San Francisco International Airport to Oakland on Feb. 28, consolidating its Bay Area operation in Oakland.

Oakland International Airport served 11.4 million passengers and handled more than 600,000 metric tons of air cargo last year.

Though San Francisco International Airport officials have affirmed they still plan to push for runway expansions many believe that the recession will put them hold and politics may delay them long enough for further obstacles to arise.

Critics of SFO's runway reconfigurations say it could shut down windsurfing all along the Peninsula shoreline, both through blockage and through sedimentation that could impact sites well to the south of the airport.

New runways have been proposed for both San Francisco and Oakland airports. A new runway at either would result in the largest Bay fill since the establishment of the modern environmental and coastal resource management framework.