Westfield Barnes International Air Show Set for Aug. 2021 Despite COVID-19 Threat

WESTFIELD — With a commitment from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base has announced plans to host the Westfield International Air Show on Aug. 14-15, 2021.

With aviation demonstration teams roaring overhead, historic aircraft on the ground and skydivers in between, the show drew 60,000 spectators each day the last time it was held, which was in August 2017.

But the coronavirus pandemic has led to event cancellations throughout 2020, and it has already prompted some area colleges to announce they will continue mostly remote learning in the spring of 2021.

“I’m hopeful that by a year from now we will have moved on and things will have resolved themselves,” said Westfield Mayor Donald F. Humason Jr. “(The air show) brings a lot of people in. People have a great time.”

He added that the event helps build support for the Air National Guard and promote the city-owned Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport.

The guard announced the dates Tuesday after getting confirmation from the Thunderbirds, said Master Sgt. Lindsey Watson-Kirwin, public affairs manager at the 104th. The guard recently started promoting the show on its social media feeds.

Watson-Kirwin warns that things may change due to the coronavirus or for other reasons. The Air National Guard will take direction from its chain of command both in Massachusetts and in the U.S. military.

“We are constantly taking in new information and evaluating every mission we do,” she said.

But it is important to get the dates announced and start all the preparation and coordination necessary to put on the show.

Joe Savage, of Commack, New Jersey, crew chief of this 1940 B-25 bomber, cleans the glass turret around an old machine gun as part of a static display at the Westfield International Airshow Saturday. The show continues Sunday at the Barnes 104th Air National Guard Base. (Frederick Gore Photo

The Thunderbirds list the show on their 2021 schedule, in between the Oregon International Air Show from July 31 to Aug. 1 and the Aug. 18 Thunder Over the Boardwalk air show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Thunderbirds are also expecting to return to New England on Sept. 11, 2021, and on Sept. 21, 2021, for the Pease Air National Guard Base Open House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport brings in about $1 million a year to city coffers in rent and taxes, compared with a cost to the city budget of $800,000.

In total, the airport and its tenants — military and civilian — have a $138.5 million payroll and total economic impact of $236 million a year. The airport is responsible directly or indirectly for 2,100 jobs.

It is home to a Ross-Rectrix aircraft maintenance facility, flight schools, a training program through Westfield Technical Academy, an Army National Guard helicopter unit, and Air Methods, which flies Life Star medical helicopters serving Hartford Healthcare and Baystate Medical Center.

The Pentagon is eyeing Barnes as a new home for the next-generation F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. It’s an upgrade that would secure the base’s future but requires a demonstration of support from the community.

The 104th Fighter Wing now has F-15 fighter jets and the mission to provide air security over much of the East Coast including New York City.

Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee last hosted its Great New England Air and Space Show in 2018. An estimated 63,400 people attended over the two days of that event.

8/11/17-Westfield-Scenes from the Westfield International Air Show Friends and Family Day, Friday, at the Barnes Air National Guard Base. Geico Skytypers practice. (Dave Roback / The Republican)

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