San Jose and Oakland airports saw sharp drops in November passenger traffic, while San Francisco posted one of its strongest holiday travel months on record, a review shows.
San Jose Mineta International Airport reported that it handled nearly 831,000 passengers during November – down 13% from the same month in 2024. The decline is tied to wider shifts in the airline and airport business, including falling demand, according to Ana State, a spokesperson for the airport.
During November, Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport accommodated about 704,300 passengers, the travel hub reported. That was down 11.9% from the same month in 2024.
“The decline in intra-California business travel has been the primary factor that we have observed affecting passenger trends,” said Kaley Skantz, a spokesperson for the East Bay aviation hub.
In sharp contrast, San Francisco International Airport reported robust passenger activity during November, a month that included the getaway periods for Thanksgiving 2025. It handled just over 4.3 million passengers, which was up 1.7% from the same month the year before.
“This period includes the Thanksgiving holiday, which was our busiest ever,” said Doug Yakel, a spokesperson for SFO.
The struggles at Oakland and San Jose airports appear to be part of weaker trends for the aviation complexes that go well beyond a one-month blip, according to this news organization’s compilation and analysis of monthly reports.
Over the 12 months that ended in November 2025, San Jose handled 10.84 million passengers. That was down 8.2% from the 11.8 million passengers that the South Bay travel center accommodated over the one-year period that ended in November 2024.
State said overall economic fundamentals in Silicon Valley will help bolster future performance of the San Jose airport.
“San Jose remains California’s most dependable airport for on-time performance and continues to serve more than 40 nonstop destinations,” State said.
Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport handled just under 9.3 million passengers over the one-year period ending in November, which represented a decline of 14.8% from the 10.91 million passengers that traveled during the 12-month stretch that ended in November 2024.
Officials in Oakland noted that they have been able to entice additional new services for the East Bay hub.
“Four new daily nonstop flights to San Diego on Alaska Airlines have been announced and will begin service on April 22,” Skantz said.
San Francisco International Airport handled 54.58 million passengers over the 12 months that ended in November. That equated to an increase of 5.3% compared with the 51.85 million passengers during the one-year period ending in November 2024.
Despite elevated heights for San Francisco, all three airports have yet to zoom back to their pre-pandemic economic altitudes in 2019.
San Jose’s one-year performance through November was 30.7% below the record-high 15.65 million passengers it accommodated in 2019. Oakland’s totals were 30.5% below the 13.38 million it handled in 2019 and San Francisco’s totals were 5.1% below the 57.49 million passengers it saw in 2019.
“We will continue working with existing and potential new carriers and encouraging them to add new service at Oakland Airport,” Skantz said.
Similarly, San Jose airport officials believe some hopeful signs are coming into view over the horizon.
“Travel demand fluctuates over time, and we continue to work closely with our airline partners to support future growth while delivering a reliable, passenger-focused experience,” State said.
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