=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2002/02= /17/TR124798.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, February 17, 2002 (SF Chronicle) Will success, popularity spoil Oakland airport? Michael Dougan Oakland International Airport - long the Bay Area's "other" air terminal, the poor stepsister to San Francisco International - is coming into its own as a major departure point for travelers bound anywhere in America. In keeping with its upgraded status, OAK (as it's known in the air transportation biz) is about to expand like a fallen Weight Watcher on a Krispy Kreme binge. Southwest, Aloha, Delta, JetBlue, American and United airlines are adding flights out of Oakland. The airport needs more parking space, more gates, a bigger terminal, better traffic control - all symptoms of success, to be sure, but worrisome to those of us who perceive the East Bay airport as a low- pressure alternative to imposing and frenetic SFO. Will OAK mutate into the massive, mayhem-prone monstrosity that we now go there to avoid? We'll find out soon enough: The $1.5 billion building project is in its initial phase and will be completed well before the end of this decade. Airport spokeswoman Cyndy Johnson insists that the new, larger Oakland Airport will remain as user-friendly as the current version. Expansion is an unavoidable symptom of progress when the numbers look li= ke this: -- In 1997, 9.8 million passengers passed through Oakland Airport. In 2001: 11.4 million. Despite the travel slump since you-know-what happened, that figure is expected to climb this year. -- Number of daily departures in January 2001: 173. Last month: 178. Several airlines are adding routes over the coming weeks and months, so this figure, too, will increase. Airlines are increasingly looking to Oakland as a viable base for flights to major hubs and destinations. This is a bonus for Bay Area fliers. Oakland is the easiest airport to reach for East Bay and most North Bay residents. Depending on traffic, it can take no longer to drive from downtown San Francisco to Oakland than to SFO. Parking at Oakland is much easier than at SFO; the $15 economy lot is within walking distance of the terminal. OAK's latest boom began last March when Southwest Airlines closed down i= ts SFO operations and based eight flights a day out of Oakland. That alone made a perceptible, and not always desirable, difference for visitors - especially during the winter holiday season, when parking lots there filled up for more than a week. More changes followed: -- Soon after the East Coast terror attacks, SunTrips started running its discount flights to Mexico from Oakland. Now it's relocating its Hawaiian operation there, effective Feb. 28. -- Aloha has added two flights from Oakland to Las Vegas and four to Kon= a. -- Delta will fly Oakland-to-Atlanta routes twice daily beginning in Jun= e. -- JetBlue, a popular discount airline like Southwest, is expanding its Oakland-based East Coast service: By spring, the carrier will operate four flights daily to JFK Airport in New York and two to Dulles International in Washington, D.C. -- On April 7, Southwest will add three daily flights to Chicago's Midway Airport. -- American Airlines, which dropped its four Oakland-Los Angeles flights after the September tragedy, just brought in its American Eagle service to make six flights a day from OAK to LAX. -- United also halted its LAX flights after the terror attacks, but has reinstated four of them, using United Express. To handle all these flights, and more in the future - airports, like bank accounts and children, always aspire to growth - Oakland's plan includes a new concourse, increasing the number of departure gates from 12 to 22. No longer will the airport be divided into two separate terminals; the new configuration will consolidate those into one large terminal, with cars approaching the curbs on two levels: Departing passengers will be dropped off above, while those arriving are picked up below (just like at SFO). The vast open-air parking lot across from the terminal will be replaced = by a multistory parking garage. Part of the beloved economy lot will be eliminated to make room for the new terminal. Still, said Johnson, the new terminal will be designed "to maintain that sense of convenience and proximity" that current airport users find appealing. The first phase, road widening, has already begun. Within a year or so, 98th Avenue - rather than Hegenberger Road - will become the primary access route for passengers turning off nearby Interestate 880 to the terminal. If current schedules hold, the garage should be finished in 2004 and the new terminal up and running no later than 2006. This, no doubt, will make the Oakland airport even more attractive to airlines, which will continue to base new routes there. For Bay Area travelers, this will mean more choices and added convenience when it comes time to take a flight. Meanwhile, here are a few tips on flying out of Oakland: -- The presence of low-cost airlines Southwest and JetBlue often means y= ou can fly to your destination more cheaply from Oakland than from SFO. But - don't assume this will always be the case. Some flights are more expensive out of Oakland. Whenever you're booking a flight, use the Web or ask your travel agent to check on fares from both airports. -- If you plan to get to and from the Oakland a1irport on BART, -don't schedule a late return flight. You could find yourself waiting for luggage so long that you miss the last shuttle to the BART station. It happened to one of my co-workers - twice. He faced a $75 cab ride home. This made him unhappy. If you must return on a late flight, go the carry-on route. -- If you enter one of the Oakland airport parking lots, you have a 10- minute grace period during which you can exit without paying any fees. This unadvertised amenity is useful when, during peak travel periods, you see signs warning you away from a particular lot because it has filled to capacity. Remember this Sensible Traveler axiom: There's no such thing as a full parking lot. Somebody is always leaving, creating a new space with your name on it. Drive in and look around, then hustle to the exit if you -can't find anything. -- If you want to walk from the huge economy lot to the terminal, you'll need a parking space near the entrance in the southwest corner. These are often the first to fill up, so do this: Wait in your car next to the little shelter where shuttle buses drop off passengers. Soon, somebody will disembark from the bus and tow their luggage toward their vehicle. Follow them (but at a respectful distance, so they -don't suspect you of malicious intent). Their parking place becomes yours, and 10 minutes later you're handing your ticket to the agent at the counter. E-mail your Sensible Traveler questions and comments to mdougan@sfchronicle.com.=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle