 From Brownsville, Kingsville, Louisville and Titusville to Los Angeles, Chino, Fort Worth and St. Louis, air shows throughout the country are reporting strong attendance. Whether big or small, civilian or military, with or without military jet teams, pent up demand generated by the cancellations of the 2013 air show season seems to be fueling higher-than-normal enthusiasm among the three dozen or so shows that have already been held this year. Just as encouraging: many shows later in the season are reporting unusually strong advanced ticket sales.
Some of this fervor was foreshadowed in December, January and February as event coordinators for the North American military jet teams conducted their pre-season planning trips. Newspapers and television stories were reporting, sometimes extensively, on these winter visits. After covering the cancellations and reduced attendance of last year, media outlets are “closing the loop” by reporting on the return of air shows and the teams. And all of the media coverage – both the largely negative sequestration-related coverage in 2013 and the more positive return-of-air-shows coverage so far in 2014 – is increasing interest in and awareness of events throughout the country.
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