Once the center of a rich aviation culture in the East Bay, the airport is set for a major upgrade — and possible return to glory.
When the Oakland International Airport announced plans for a major expansion last week, the potentially profound implications for the Bay Area may not have been obvious — it’s long operated in the shadow of major airline hubs in San Francisco and San Jose.
The Oakland Airport has better weather and an easier approach for pilots than SFO. It is already a shipping hub, with major operations conducted by FedEx and UPS on site. Perhaps most importantly, it is well situated for the flight needs of a shifting Bay Area population. To understand the East Bay’s future potential for aviation, it’s important to understand aviation’s history here — one that stretches back almost a century to the morning of August 16, 1927, when eight planes lined up at the Oakland airfield to attempt the first transpacific flights from California to Hawaii.
But that inauspicious beginning would nonetheless prove to be the start of a rich legacy of aviation innovation in the East Bay. The Oakland Airport was the first in the region, the first in the country to open an airport hotel, a key base for military operations during World War II, and the departure point for numerous attempts at setting long-distance flight records — including Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated journey around the world.
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