=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/2003/12= /19/BUG773QIOB1.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, December 19, 2003 (SF Chronicle) Airline takes jab at Oakland/ATA seeks boost with ads promoting its SFO des= tination David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer ATA, an expansion-minded low-fare airline, is trying to win passengers from rival airlines, and it's trying to do it by dissing Oakland. As if being San Francisco's long-suffering, less-glamorous neighbor isn't enough, Oakland and its fast-growing airport are slammed in ATA radio advertisements now being aired in metropolitan New York. The ads are designed to persuade travelers to fly ATA between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and San Francisco International Airport instead of traveling on JetBlue Airways, which flies between JFK and Oakland International Airport. The ads compare visiting Oakland to taking a bite of bad food. Flying to Oakland when your ultimate destination is San Francisco, the a= ds say, is "kind of like a restaurant serving you the gristle part of a steak because, well, it's right next to the meat." To which New York's JetBlue retorted: Fuhgedaboutit. "If the whole business is about getting people to fly to SFO instead of Oakland, well, SFO has difficulty with weather and delays, so if you fly there, you're probably going to be waiting a long time for your steak dinner," said Gareth Edmonson-Jones, a spokesman for JetBlue. Steven Grossman, director of aviation at Oakland International, which ATA doesn't serve, was equally unimpressed. "I'm extremely flattered that ATA considers Oakland so much of a threat that they'd have to target us directly," he said. "I don't know if people in New York know this, but ATA doesn't fly to San Francisco at all," Grossman said. "They fly to Millbrae," he said, referring to SFO's location 14 miles south of San Francisco. "Oakland airport is just as close to downtown San Francisco as SFO, and closer to tourist destinations." Oakland airport has long touted convenience in radio ads of its own, and has been the Bay Area's fastest-growing airport in recent years, thanks in large part to the increasing popularity of low-fare carriers such as JetBlue and the hugely successful Southwest Airlines, which pulled out of SFO several years back, complaining of weather-related delays. SFO, by far the region's major gateway for international travel, has fought back recently by courting low-fare carriers. ATA, based in Indianapolis, has increased its number of flights at SFO, and SFO has started expanded service by low-fare America West. E-mail David Armstrong at davidarmstrong@sfchronicle .com.=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 SF Chronicle