San Jose airport rebounds ridership numbers in Bay Area; adapts to a new world of travel

Ridership is climbing back up across Bay Area airports after COVID-19 sent traffic plummeting, and the battle for airway dominance is intensifying.

Oakland officials this week approved renaming its airport to include “San Francisco” in the title, provoking a lawsuit from the region’s dominant competitor across the bay, San Francisco International. But it also raises questions down south for San Jose Mineta International Airport, whose corporate commuters managed to keep SJC in second place ahead of Oakland in terms of ridership. Still, San Jose airport’s ridership numbers — more than 12 million in 2023 — haven’t returned to its 15.6 million peak in 2019.