San Jose, Oakland airports battle to regain pre-COVID passenger levels

SAN JOSE — Passenger trips through the airports in San Jose and Oakland are cruising at levels that are well below the altitudes where they soared before the coronavirus outbreak.

The deadly bug unleashed an array of economic ailments on the travel markets and the hotel sector in the Bay Area and worldwide. The East Bay and South Bay airports have yet to fully recover from their prior maladies.

Updated reports suggest that both San Jose International Airport and Oakland International Airport continue to struggle to reclaim the activity stratospheres they had reached prior to the coronavirus.

During the month of November, San Jose airport handled 1.03 million passengers while Oakland airport accommodated slightly fewer than 972,500 passengers, according to separate reports released by the aviation hubs.

Passenger activity during November was up 24.4% at San Jose airport compared with the same month in 2021, according to statistics that the South Bay airport posted.

“We are pleased to see travelers continuing to return, and that they are choosing San Jose,” said Keonnis Taylor, a spokesperson for San Jose International Airport.

In November, Oakland airport’s passenger activity was up 18.4% from the same month in 2021, the East Bay airport reported.

“Oakland International Airport has surpassed 10 million passengers so far in 2022 with December totals still to come,” said Bryant Francis, director of aviation with the Port of Oakland, referring to the totals for the first 11 months of 2022.

Both airports for several months have been showing sturdy upswings in passenger activity at the travel centers.

Yet even with the improving trends, it’s clear that both airports have a long way to go to get back to where they were before the arrival of the coronavirus.

The shortfall in passengers becomes apparent in a comparison of the current yearly trends at San Jose and Oakland airports to 2019, the final year before the outbreak of the coronavirus, according to a Bay Area News Group review of the passenger statistics for both aviation hubs.

Over the one-year period ending in November, San Jose International Airport handled 11.24 million passengers.

San Jose’s passenger activity for the most recent 12-month period was 28.2% below the airport’s all-time record of 15.65 million passengers in 2019.

During the 12 months that ended in November, Oakland International Airport accommodated 11.09 million passengers.

Oakland’s passenger levels over the most recent one-year period were 17.1% below the 13.38 million passengers it handled in 2019. Oakland’s all-time record came in 2018, when the airport handled 13.59 million passengers.

Despite the shortfalls in activity compared to the peak years for the two airports, the trends are hopeful, officials with both aviation hubs said.

“Our teams are doing a great job, working with the airlines, concessions, and many other partners to ensure we provide the convenience and access people love at San Jose International Airport,” Taylor said.

San Jose airport handled only 4.71 million passengers in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus outbreak. In 2021, the airport handled 7.36 million passengers, a signifant comeback but still a drastic reduction over the previous years. San Jose’s 11.24 million passenger total over the one-year period ending in November was 52.7% higher than the 2021 total.

Oakland’s airport handled 4.62 million passengers in 2020 and 8.14 million passengers in 2021. This means Oakland’s most recent 12-month total of 11.09 million passengers was 36.2% higher than the 2021 amount.

The travel meltdown that winter storms unleashed in December might undermine the passenger totals for last month at the two airports, although those stats have yet to be released. That number may be further reduced by the scheduling issue that brought Southwest Airlines — which has flights to and from all three Bay Area aiports dozens of times on a normal day — to a halt, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.

The San Jose and Oakland airports recently added flights to key destinations, and officials at the two aviation hubs believe the prospects for 2023 are bright.

San Jose recently added new Zipair low-cost flights between the South Bay and Tokyo Narita International Airport in Japan, and also added Southwest Airlines flights between San Jose and Palm Springs in Southern California.

Oakland will gain first-time flights connecting the East Bay with San Salvador, starting this March.

“We look forward to a new year of positive developments, with new routes added and new restaurants opening in the months ahead,” Oakland airport’s Francis said.