Smith Reynolds Airport Receives $1.8 Million AIP Grant For Ramp Upgrades

The Winston-Salem Air Show has been cancelled for 2016, but the reason is not falling revenues or poor attendance.

Rather, the Forsyth County, NC Airport Commission decided to cancel the show when it was awarded a $1.8 million AIP grant to repave and reconstruct the ramp area at the main terminal, which is part of the airport's master plan.

But the Winston-Salem Journal reports that the timing of the project would conflict with the air show, and rather than miss the opportunity for the grant, the board voted to cancel the event so that the project could be completed in a timely manner. Chairman Thomas McKim told the paper that the board "just made the judgment that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for this significant grant of funds to do a capital project.”

The ramp area at the terminal is where many of the display aircraft are parked for the show, and there would be pedestrian traffic through the construction zone. While McKim feels that the air show is an important showcase for the airport with the general public, occasionally things come up that make staging the show difficult. "This is one of those year," he said.

Air show director Steve Flippin will also lose his job in connection with the cancellation. Flippin has been organizing the show on a contract basis since 2008, and McKim said he has done a "great job" putting on the show. But with no air show next year, the board determined that it would not renew his contract.

There has been no determination whether the show will return in 2017.

FMI: www.smithreynolds.org/commission