Former Snowbird pilots are calling on the government to keep the iconic aerobatic show in the air by scaling back the performance rather than suspending it entirely.
The Royal Canadian Air Force recently announced it’s pausing the Snowbirds demonstration squadron at the end of the 2026 flying season until new planes arrive in the early 2030s.
Retired lieutenant-colonel Maryse Carmichael, a former Snowbird commander, is among the alumni now pushing Canada to save the show by using fewer planes, reservist pilots or a less complex spectacle in the sky.
“If our country does not have its national aerobatic team, I think our country will be less because they bring such inspiration and pride,” said Carmichael, the first woman to join the Snowbirds.
“I’m the living proof, as a young girl seeing the Snowbirds and then joining the military and becoming a Snowbird myself. So many children are inspired by this display of precision, teamwork, trust and leadership.”
The government’s move to temporarily suspend the show is a first in the Snowbirds’ half-century history. The team is famous for painting the sky with complex formations, rolls and aerobatic tricks while reaching speeds of up to 550 km/h.
Despite the government spending $31.2 million over the past five years modernizing more than a dozen planes to keep them flying until 2030, the aging aircraft are retiring three years early.
This Canada Day is the last time for years the nine-plane formation will fly by Parliament Hill, capturing the crowd’s attention during the celebration.
The Department of National Defence (DND) told CBC News it would have cost more money to address other issues with the planes first built in the 1960s, but did not determine the cost because it’s “no longer practical or technically feasible.”
The Royal Canadian Air Force plans on reassigning the highly trained Snowbird pilots and staff to other units in need during a shortage of personnel it’s trying to address.
The Snowbirds Alumni Association is now demanding the government look into what it believes are viable options to keep the show going like the United Kingdom recently announced.
Last week, the British Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows aerobatic team said it’s scaling back its formations from nine to seven aircraft to keep the show alive until it transitions to new planes. The current fleet flying since the 1980s is set to retire in 2030.
Carmichael said Canada should consider following suit.
Snowbirds grounded after this season until new planes arrive
The alumni association also wants Canada’s air force to consider teaming up with the private aerospace industry and using reservists with past Snowbird experience to fly the planes so it can reassign pilots and technicians to other fleets in need.
Carmichael said the length of the shows or complexity of the performances could also be toned down to free up more resources.
She questions why so much money was spent upgrading the Snowbirds’ CT-114 Tutor jets that are now being retired early.
“It doesn’t make sense to me as a taxpayer to see that,” Carmichael said.
She said there should be an investigation into why there wasn’t better planning.
DND now confirms to CBC News that on top of $29.3 million spent designing and buying the parts to modernize the planes, another $1.9 million was spent installing the modifications.
American defence company L3Harris was hired for the engineering and procurement of the equipment for the new glass cockpit avionics package, voice and flight data recorders, upgraded navigation and communication systems.
Canadian company IMP Aerospace & Defence installed the modifications, but its work was cut short because the fleet is retiring soon.
IMP Aerospace was supposed to upgrade 20 of the CT-114 Tutor jets by May 2027, but the government pulled the plug after 13 planes were upgraded.
DND confirmed to CBC News it does not plan on upgrading the seven remaining Tutors.
Carmichael said she doesn’t understand why the air force believes the planes are safe to fly this season but not until 2030.
DND said the planes “have been certified to fly this season, but we were less confident about future seasons.” Airshows book up to two years in advance so “it was important to signal the grounding of the aircraft now,” the department said.
Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet earlier this month said “feasibility studies were done” and there are engineering challenges to the fleet’s airframes, engines and escape system programs that would require more work.
More than a week after requesting information about the feasibility studies, DND has not provided a response.
An internal Royal Canadian Air Force document released under access to information legislation in 2019 shows feasibility studies at that time concluded the airframes, landing gear, mechanical systems and engines were viable until 2030.
The $1.2 million the government is saving implementing the upgraded Tutors into service will be reallocated to the Capital Investment Fund to be used elsewhere, DND said.
