Winter holidays are normally the peak travel season for Oakland’s airport. But the East Bay saw a big drop in travel this year.
The Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport reported just over 704,000 passengers used the airport in November. This marked a roughly 12% drop in passenger volume compared to November 2024, when nearly 800,000 people used the airport.
Like other airports across the country, passenger volume at Oakland plummeted during the onset of the pandemic. Numbers jumped back up in November 2021, and Oakland experienced strong growth the following year, with total passenger counts rising from 821,600 in November 2021 to 972,460 in November 2022. But there’s been a steady decline in passenger travel in November every year since then. And data reported by the airport shows that this trend holds true across other months.
The airport hasn’t yet reported its December numbers. The period between late December and early January includes some of the busiest travel days at OAK, according to airport officials. But if the rest of the year is any indicator, traffic at the airport was not healthy in 2025: In September, the SF Standard reported that OAK showed the worst decline in travel numbers of any major U.S. airport in the first half of the year.
Kaley Skantz, spokesperson for Oakland’s airport, blames a longstanding problem for the sag in November: the loss of business travelers.
“The decline in intra-California business travel has been the primary factor that we have observed affecting passenger trends,” Skantz said in an email.
The pandemic put a significant dent in business travel across the country. Nearly one-third of respondents to a Morning Consult poll in 2023 said their companies had changed their travel policies by reducing the number of trips or cutting back on which employees went on trips. A 2025 forecast by the U.S. Travel Association noted that spending on domestic business travel was experiencing modest growth and projected increased rates over the next three years.
Oakland isn’t the only local airport seeing dismal travel numbers. The East Bay Times recently reported that San Jose Mineta International Airport is experiencing a similar decline. San Francisco is booming compared to its two neighbors.
Skantz said Oakland airport officials are encouraging airlines to add new service at OAK. She noted that there are four new daily nonstop flights to San Diego on Alaska Airlines, which will be available starting on April 22.
Airport officials have also recently rolled out amenities aimed at making the airport experience more pleasant. In December, the airport reintroduced a guest pass program where non-flying passengers can escort or meet loved ones and friends at the terminal gates. However, this program’s appeal might be limited by the fact that non-flying passengers will need to get permission from TSA, which is feeding data to federal immigration agents, according to the New York Times.
Skantz said officials at the airport are “hard at work making improvements to our facilities to enhance passenger experience.” Last February, the airport announced the completion of a renovated restroom in Terminal 1 — the first in a series of efforts to modernize the airport’s facilities.
The Port Commission, which oversees the airport, tried to make Oakland stand out on the map to travelers by pushing through a name change that controversially referenced neighboring San Francisco. San Francisco responded by suing Oakland and accusing Port officials of trying to mislead travelers seeking to visit the West Bay. After a judge blocked Oakland from using its new name, Port officials chose a slightly different name for the airport: Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.
Other Oakland officials have taken steps to try to help the struggling airport. Last September, the Oakland City Council voted to dismiss a lawsuit the city attorney was pursuing against Southwest Airlines — one of the airport’s biggest carriers — for allegedly depriving some of its workers of sick leave. Some councilmembers said they were concerned about Southwest leaving Oakland due to the litigation. Shortly after the council’s decision, Mayor Barbara Lee met with Southwest’s CEO to discuss partnerships to promote the airport.
The airport may also see a boost in travel numbers due to major sporting events in the Bay Area in 2026. Nearby Santa Clara will host the Super Bowl in February and World Cup events during the summer.
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