The sequestration portion of the 2011 Budget Control Act mandates $500 billion in across-the-board defense spending cuts during the next ten years. There is a growing consensus among congressional leaders that legislatively-mandated budget cuts will not be averted, forcing the Pentagon to make severe budget cuts beginning March 1. 

Contingency planning by the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps calls for an end to all non-essential flying including air show performances if sequestration cuts are implemented. Although specific details about air shows and open houses held on military bases have not been shared, several of these events have already been cancelled in anticipation of budget cuts and others will almost certainly follow if the March 1 sequestration deadline passes without a resolution to the budgetary deadlock. 

“Air shows are low-cost, patriotic, family-friendly events that support the local community, but also give us a chance to honor the men and women of our armed services,” says John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS).  

“Our country has difficult financial challenges to overcome, but these cuts are not the way to solve them. ICAS urges Congress and the White House to solve this problem another way and allow the military to continue touching millions of lives with their performances this year.”