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Canadians, who owe us nothing, might save Fleet Week in SF

While the Blue Angels could be AWOL, the Canadian Snowbirds will make sure the show goes on. 

Nine red and white airplanes fly in close formation against a clear blue sky, leaving white smoke trails behind them.
The Canadian Snowbirds will return to San Francisco for the first time since 2017. | Source: Valerie Loiseleux / Getty Images

Thank you, Canada.

With the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels potentially grounded for Fleet Week due to the shutdown of the federal government, San Francisco businesses and visitors are turning their hopeful eyes north

The Canadian Snowbirds, a team of pilots who similarly perform aerial acrobatics, will be “returning for the first time since 2017,” said David Cruise, a spokesperson for SF Fleet Week, which starts Sunday and runs to Oct. 13. 

The Snowbirds’ 30-minute performances will feature nine jets performing “dramatic formation changes, breathtaking splits, bursts, and rolls over the waterfront,” said Captain Phil Rochon, the team’s public affairs officer. “Fleet Week offers an ideal stage to highlight the skill, professionalism, and teamwork of the Canadian Armed Forces, while celebrating the strong and enduring ties between our militaries.”

The Patriots Jet Team, a group of volunteer civilian pilots, will also take to the skies. “The show is going to go on,” said member Cory Lovell. The team will be flying its jets as well as its aerobatic airplanes, which some people refer to as “flippy floppy” for the way they tumble and roll across the sky. 

“There’s going to be people that are happy about [the Blue Angels cancellation], because there’s less noise, and then there will be other people that will be unhappy that they aren’t coming. But there’s still going to be airplanes out there flying, and the weather is supposed to be great.” 

Four fighter jets fly in formation over a coastal city, releasing red, white, and blue smoke trails with water and bridges visible below.
Before the government shutdown, Fleet Week had ”by far the best air-show schedule I’ve ever seen,” says Cory Lovell of the Patriots Jet Team. | Source: Courtesy of the Patriots Jet Team
A blue SU-26 stunt plane with red, white, and blue stripes flies over water filled with many boats near a small island, with the pilot visible inside.
“We’ll still make a show happen,” Lovell says. | Source: Courtesy of the Patriots Jet Team

The likely diminishment of the air show hurts, Lovell says, but he believes the celebration will offer plenty of entertainment. 

“People are in town, so whether they see five hours of an air show, or two and a half hours of an air show, people are still going to show up,” he said.

Small businesses hope so. Fleet Week typically injects about $10 million into the local economy in the form of hotel bookings, watch parties at bars and restaurants, and hot, drunken sailors who tip well

Pete Sittnick, managing partner of Waterbar and Epic Steak on the Embarcadero, said Fleet Week weekend always drives a surge in sales, as locals and tourists flock to sit bayside to watch the jets. Sailors and Marines stop by too, prompting other patrons to treat them to rounds of oysters or drinks to thank them for their service. 

“It’s definitely an economic help for us,” he said. “There’s a special energy and excitement, and it drives business.”

There will “certainly be sadness” that the Blue Angels aren’t performing, he added, but he’s thankful that the show will go on: “We’re grateful that there are still service people and airmen that will go up there and perform.” 

Brian O’Rourke, corps planner for the U.S. Navy, noted that SF has “a well-deserved reputation with sailors and Marines as a favorite port visit.”

He added that if the seamen and pilots are kept from the city this year, they will begin planning for Fleet Week 2026 as soon as November. 

Jillian D’Onfro can be reached at [email protected]