Oakland, CA (KOAK)
Hub Description
Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (IATA: OAK, ICAO: KOAK, FAA LID: OAK) is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located 7 miles (11 km) south of downtown Oakland and 12 miles (19 km) east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger flights to cities throughout the United States and international flights to Mexico and El Salvador, in addition to cargo flights to China and Japan. The airport covers 2,600 acres (1,100 ha) of land. The airport is an operating base for Southwest Airlines, which operates point-to-point routes with bases instead of a traditional network with hubs.
The city of Oakland looked into the construction of an airport starting in 1925. The announcement of the Dole Air Race for a flight from California to Hawaii provided the incentive to purchase 680 acres (280 ha) in April 1927 for the airport. The 7,020-foot-long (2,140 m) runway was the longest in the world at the time and was built in just 21 days ahead of the Dole race start. The airport was dedicated by Charles Lindbergh on September 17. In its early days, because of its long runway enabling safe takeoff rolls for fuel-heavy aircraft, 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. Earhart departed from this airport when she made her final, ill-fated voyage, intending to return there after circumnavigating the globe.
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. In 1929 Boeing opened the Boeing School of Aeronautics on the field, which expanded rapidly in 1939 as part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Thousands of pilots and mechanics were trained before the facility was changed into the United Air Lines training center in 1945.