| In mid-July, I had an opportunity to attend three Midwest air shows held within a few days of each other. By the time I had left the last one, I had become – and remain – convinced that we are in the early stages of an air show renaissance…a fundamental change to the health and circumstances of our industry that will shape our business through the rest of this decade, into the next and beyond.
The Wings Nuts Flying Circus in Tarkio, Missouri, the Dayton Air Show in Ohio, and Thunder over Michigan near Detroit, are a representative cross section of air shows that could not be more different from one another. The one-day Tarkio show was held at a country airport with a 3,500 runway and an audience of less than 6,000. One of our industry’s longstanding, flagship events, Dayton welcomed two military jet teams, multiple Art Scholl Showmanship Award recipients and more than 80,000 spectators. And Thunder over Michigan, a warbird specialty event, is a relatively new air show that has seen enormous growth over the last several years.
But it is what these shows have in common that makes me optimistic about the short- and long-term future of the air show industry in North America.
Veterans in our business will tell you that our industry never had it as good as we did in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Attendance was up all over the country. Innovative new acts were changing the very definition of air shows. Military shows were hiring more civilian performers. And corporate sponsors were taking an increased interest in air shows.
By contrast, our industry was fairly flat in the late 1990s and 2000s. Easy sponsorship money either dried up or was directed to non-air show events. Struggling shows limped along or went out of business entirely. The war on terrorism impacted the military’s ability to conduct air shows each year. Performers and support service providers suffered from the downturn. ICAS membership, which had grown through the 1980s and early 1990s, started to flatten and then decrease slightly each year.
Even now, our business is not without challenges, obstacles and naysayers. The current economic difficulties have had an adverse impact on many organizations…particularly in the area of sponsorship. If there’s been a recent upturn in attendance, most performers have realized no benefit from it. And some prominent air show pundits have used their pulpits to make unsubstantiated pronouncements that our industry is sick and getting sicker.
Nonetheless, what I’ve seen and heard this year suggests that we are emerging from a small trough and headed toward a significant and sustained spike in the health of our industry. Attendance at most air shows is up significantly – even dramatically -- as compared to recent years. But what have been more impressive are the more qualitative improvements. In Tarkio, Dayton and Ypsilanti, I saw shows that were applying the hard-earned lessons of the last decade to fundamentally change the way that they conduct business.
Tarkio, for example, made extensive use of local sponsors in a way that would have been unheard of for a show its size just a few years ago. As an indication that air shows are beginning to set admission prices at a more sustainable level, Dayton and Thunder over Michigan charged $19 and $25, respectively, for on-site adult tickets. Dayton continued its efforts to attract larger, more diverse crowds using a level of marketing sophistication that was uncommon in our business ten years ago. And, after eschewing traditional air show business models and committing itself to being a warbird specialty event, Thunder over Michigan has built brand equity as a niche show that has produced large, loyal crowds and increased revenue.
More generally, air shows throughout the United States and Canada are changing. Recognizing that “business as usual” will produce similar results each year, air show professionals are – by necessity -- learning how to adjust, innovate and evolve. Our veterans are shedding the heavy baggage of old, tired assumptions and replacing them with creative new approaches. When they challenge conventional wisdom, newcomers are refusing to accept “because that’s the way we did it last year” as a reasonable response. All of our members – young and old, experienced and inexperienced – are discovering the benefits of adapting and adopting ideas, systems, and processes from their fellow members. The tools that are industry uses are also changing. From fan-oriented websites and internet ticket sales to webcast air show performances and high definition video to performer blogs and “new media” marketing initiatives, the air show community is responding to the challenges of the twenty-first century with twenty-first century tools and innovations.
The overriding challenge, of course, is to maintain this new paradigm. If there is to be an air show renaissance, it will be because – as an industry – we applied pressure to change and then maintained that pressure over time. And that’s a challenge that will not allow wall flowers and sideline spectators. It’s an initiative in which we must all participate. |
