Air shows across the country have been cancelled due to federal budget cuts as a result of the sequester. The air shows may draw in tens of thousands of people and raise millions of dollars for local economies, but the military must keep their jets grounded this year.
As of April 1, all military jet teams have been grounded in an attempt to save money. Teams like the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds, which often perform intricate stunts at air shows and the F-16, F-18 and F-22 fighter jets and the U.S. Army Parachute Team, will not be performing this year, the Associated Press reports.
The budget cuts have impacts more than 200 out of 300 air shows in the US over the past few years, according to John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows. This year roughly 60 shows have been cancelled and more are likely to follow suit. According to Cudahy, 150 to 20 percent of the shows won't come back next year.
"The worst case is that they either cancel and go out of business, or they don't cancel and they have such poor attendance and they go out of business," Cudahy said.
Local economies are going to take a hit due to the air show cancellations. These shows tend to bring in a high amount of money as tourists flock to catch these shows.
However not every city is expecting to feel the impact. Chicago and Milwaukee typically hold shows along the shore of Lake Michigan. They expect large crowds to gather around for their free events. Another even in Wisconsin, and the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture in Oshkosh, includes a convention of pilots and aviation enthusiasts, with an air show attached.
However some other even organizers felt the need to cancel as they expect a huge drop in attendance due to the lack of military jets.
Big events like the Thunder over the Blue Ridge in Martinsburg, W.V, which had previously drawn in 88,000 spectators, are cancelled.
"Having the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels is like having the Super Bowl, it's a household name," Walkup said. Without a jet team, the show typically draws 15,000 or fewer.
Organizers were considering letting the show go on with the West Virginia Air National Guard,
"When this happened, it just put us out of business," Walkup said.
In February, the Indianapolis Air Show was cancelled because organizers feared the Blue Angels wouldn't participate. This particular team brings in about 30 percent of the profit for the show, but sponsors wouldn't participate because it wasn't certain if the group would be able to perform. Now organizers are looking for another way to bring focus to the event by having things such as a 5k run, carnival games or more civilian aircrafts.
Air shows across the country are still trying to find ways to keep their events alive, but without the military aircrafts, the air shows may not survive.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
