tl;dr – Another airline departs OAK, and it’s essentially the Southwest hub no one talks about.
Allegiant Air is set to fly its last flight from Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK) on May 25, 2026. The budget carrier, which is the subject of merger talks with Sun Country Airlines, will cease its Oakland-Bellingham, Washington route on Memorial Day. It appears that the merger is at least some of the reason for the Allegiant withdrawal, as Sun Country previously exited the Oakland market. This news follows a not-so-great track record for declining carriers at the Northern California port city’s airport.
In 2024, OAK lost its last direct flight to Europe when Azores Airlines discontinued its service to Terceira Island.
Spirit, due to its bankruptcy, shut down its Oakland operations. Avianca used to fly from Oakland to San Salvador. That service halted in early 2024. Finally, micro-aviator Contour Aviation used to puddle jump from Oakland to Crescent City, CA and no longer does.
The airport has tried to change its name a few times in hopes of helping passengers identify its strategic, accessible (and underrated-ly convenient) location in the Bay Area, but that hasn’t seemed to move the needle much.
Southwest Airlines, which now holds 80% of traffic at the airport, is OAK’s bona fide ‘hub airline’. In reality, it has been for a long time, but it seems to go unnoticed how dominant an 80% marketshare is.
