Air show at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth canceled this year

A longtime Fort Worth tradition is canceled this year. The air show that has taken place at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport for the last 32 years will not happen this fall.

AllianceTexas Aviation Expo, formerly known as the Bell Fort Worth Alliance Air Show, issued the following statement on Wednesday morning.

"The AllianceTexas Aviation Expo has been a Hillwood and community tradition for 32 years. It has brought together aviation leaders and enthusiasts from around the world and has entertained hundreds of thousands of families while showcasing the incredible growth of the Alliance region.

Largely as a result of that growth and due to unavoidable conflicts in scheduling and logistics, Alliance Air Productions will not host the AllianceTexas Aviation Expo in 2023. We completely understand and are sensitive to the disappointment of the many loyal and dedicated sponsors, volunteers, and fans.

We remain committed to the goals of bringing family entertainment to North Texas, supporting local communities, and opening doors to various career paths in aviation and aerospace. Please know that plans for future events are being evaluated."

The cancellation is impacting aviation groups like the Fort Worth Aviation Museum. For nearly 25 years, the museum has inspired children to look to the skies for inspiration in future careers.

"Our primary goal is to inspire kids towards careers in aviation and aerospace and to educate the community to 109 years worth of aviation achievements here,” said Jim Hodgson, executive director of the Fort Worth Aviation Museum.

For many years, they have run a kids discovery zone at the air show. That community outreach was a critical opportunity for exposure to the museum’s programs for kids, adults and veterans.

“Around 25,000 people of the 100,000 who came out to the show came to the Discovery Zone. We do 10,000 to 12,000 a year here, so in one weekend, we did two years’ worth of visitation up there,” said Hodgson.

Major aerospace and defense companies like Lockheed Martin and Bell have a long history in Fort Worth. The air show at Alliance Airport has showcased those companies and the aviation community that has been built around them.

"Here in this community and the Metroplex -- where we built planes for 46 countries and 27 iconic airplanes have come out of here -- to not have a major air show, is really kind of saddening," said Hodgson.

Over the last few years, growth has been occurring at Alliance Airport and the surrounding area. Cargo is a major operation there, with FedEx, Amazon and many other companies operating distribution and air cargo centers at the airport.

The show requires a large zone of airspace – known as a box – in order to operate. The big crowd draws like the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds especially need the space.

"Depending on what kind of performances you’re going to have, the size of that box changes. If you're going to have acts like the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds, the box becomes larger because the airplanes are higher speed. They go higher, and do all of these things,” explained Hodgson.

The safety measurements require that there is no ground movement below that airspace while a show is in progress.

"It’s all safety related. So the geometry of what was taking place at Alliance, with the other warehouses and things that are there, made it very difficult to have static displays. To have people come out and look at those and then they would have to vacate the area for the flight demonstrations," Hodgson explained.

Since 2020, expo planners said they've been working to reconfigure the show to accommodate different logistical challenges.

"Alliance Air Productions is committed to exploring options for the future that allows the show to be enjoyed the way it was meant to be enjoyed – jet team performance and optimal viewing for attendees combined with education, entertainment, and aircraft static displays," Alliance Air Productions said in a follow-up statement to NBC 5.

Either way, shock has spread through the community over the news of the air show’s cancellation.

"Air shows are important. Twenty percent of the public here works in aviation-related businesses. That's one of the highest percentages of anywhere in the country,” said Hodgson. "It's part of the fabric of the community. To not be able to showcase that I think is kind of disappointing."