Absence Of Military Teams Crippling Shows Nationwide

As we noted a few days ago, the government shutdown has halted all performances of military flight demonstration teams and is causing air shows nationally to reconsider and even cancel their plans if performances are heavy with military demo teams.

That is the case with the Orlando Air Show, which on October 22 officially cancelled. It had been scheduled for the weekend of October 25-26 at the Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB).

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet demo teams were scheduled to perform. The show had several civilian acts on the slate including a P-51 Mustang, T-38 Talons, and aerobatic pilot Michael Goulian, but the organizers were facing significantly higher public safety expenses that made it unfeasible to host the event.

Air Dot Show Tour, the organizers of the eight-city tour which was to hold its season finale in Orlando, were able to hold the previous weekend’s show in Atlanta as scheduled despite the withdrawal of the military teams. The company said that ticket holders for the Orlando show will be able to either request a refund or defer their tickets to next year’s show, and ticket holders will receive an email with instructions on how to do either of those.

As we approach the end of this year’s air show season, U.S. military demonstration teams are continuing to fly both for proficiency and in the event that the shutdown is resolved soon. We will be disappointed but not surprised if additional air show cancellations are announced.

FMI:  air.show/