Can the Real San Francisco Airport Please Stand Up?

SFO and OAK Both Want to Claim the Bay Area City, but Neither Is Actually Located There

I’ve never much cared for San Francisco International Airport—until SFO decided to take a courageous stand for truth and accuracy in airport names.

Last month, SFO’s leaders filed a lawsuit to stop the Port of Oakland from changing Oakland International Airport’s name to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.”

Author and Oakland native Gertrude Stein famously said “There is no there there” of her hometown. Which is perhaps why the Oakland Port Commission justified the name change by saying it wanted to educate travelers unfamiliar with California that Oakland is an actual …

by Joe Mathews | May 7, 2024

No Sleep for Those Under the ‘Jet Superhighway’

A Stealth Change in Flight Patterns to Hollywood Burbank Airport Has Impacted a Huge Stretch of L.A.

by Julia Bricklin | December 20, 2023

It starts around 6:45 a.m.—a faint, faraway boom, followed by a low growl that makes my stomach tighten and hands clench. Within seconds, the growl turns into a low rumbling, …

Am I in Heaven or Just Flying Out of Palm Springs?

The Sunsplashed Airport in the Desert Soars Above the Pack—Even in the Pandemic

by Joe Mathews | March 1, 2022

If you’re heading to heaven, you really should fly out of Palm Springs.

I offer that line not as a jab at the advanced average age of the Coachella Valley’s retiree-heavy …

How Airports Became the Battleground for Deciding Who Belongs in America

At LAX, Attorneys, Protestors, and Customs Officials Struggle with Trump’s Travel Ban on Muslims

By Talia Inlender | August 8, 2017

At 3 p.m. on January 28, 2017—the day after Donald Trump signed an executive order banning travel to the United States by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries—I frantically tried …

Why Does LAX Feel Like a Cross Between a Rundown Bus Station and a Refugee Camp?

Passengers and Pilots Alike Love to Hate on the Airport, But They Don't Understand What's Actually Wrong with It

by Ron Rapp | December 10, 2014

Los Angeles International has long been the Rodney Dangerfield of airports. It gets no respect—and with good reason. Dated, overcrowded, and inefficient, LAX’s primary redeeming characteristic is the mild Southern …

Show Your Airline Some Love

Recent Megamergers and International Alliances Have Made Flying Cheaper, More Efficient, and Better Than Ever Before

by Andrés Martinez | July 14, 2014

Flying to Arizona on the eve of the recent holiday was a delight: crammed terminals, crammed security lines, crammed overheads, crammed runways, and harried airline employees imploring passengers to consider …

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