Was Air Show a Hit or Miss? It Depends on Whom You Ask

The action on and above Brown Field just before noon this past Friday was enough to satisfy even the most avid aviation buff.

Nearly 70 Navy paratroopers rained down on the field during a practice jump, surprising spectators who were watching crews ready the sleek Concorde supersonic passenger plane for a Mach 2 trip out over the Pacific.

Elsewhere, hundreds of show-goers peaked into the cavern-like interior of Russia’s massive AH-124 transport, while dozens of spectators toured World War II-vintage bombers.

But, inside Air/Space America’s three massive trade show tents, 325 exhibitors stood ready to receive a wave of show attendees that, for the most part, had failed to materialize.

Air/Space America was unable to provide exact attendance figures on Monday, but the trade show fell far short of its goal of 20,000 daily paid attendees.

“We averaged about 10,000 (attendees) on Monday, but that grew to about 13,000 or 14,000 by the end of the week,” Air/Space America President Bill Walsh said Monday.

About 200,000 people, including an unspecified number of non-paying spectators, attended the four weekend shows. That fell far short of Air/Space America’s initial goal of 400,000 paid spectators. It also fell short of the 60,000 to 70,000 daily goal that the organization said it needed to ensure an adequate cash flow.

Consequently, attendance shortfalls could cause a “minor” cash flow problem for Air/Space America, Walsh said.

However, the organization, founded in 1986 by former U.S. Rep. Bob Wilson, already is at work on a marketing plan for the May, 1990 show, according to Walsh. Also, Walsh said, about 90% of the show’s exhibitors already have signed up for the May, 1990 show.

Several exhibitors wondered if Air/Space America’s predicted attendance figures were unrealistic for a first-time show.

“We never expected 20,000 people daily” at the trade show, said General Dynamics spokesman Fred Bettinger. General Dynamics, which paid $100,000 to become one of seven “Founders Club” members, will return for Air/Space America’s second show in May, 1990.

But GD based its attendance expectations on lower totals, “so we weren’t disappointed,” Bettinger said. “If anything, they did better than we thought they would, given that it’s a first-time show,” Bettinger said.

Ferranti International Signal, a British firm that also paid $100,000 to become a show founder, was less enthusiastic about the show.

The company’s $225,000 booth “didn’t have one legitimate trade person come through (on Thursday),” grumbled Wilson J. Cushing, manager of expositions for Ferranti International Signal.

During the five-day trade exposition, Ferranti’s exhibit drew no more than a dozen legitimate business people, according to Cushing.

Will the founding member of Air/Space America be back for the second show planned for 1990? “The company will have to make that decision,” Cushing said on Friday, as a group of San Diego grade-school children toured his company’s exhibit. “I’ll write an honest report about what I saw.”

‘Generallly Pleased’

Hughes Aircraft Corp., another $100,000 founder, was “generally pleased” with the overall show, and the company will return for the 1990 show, according to spokesman Dan Reeder.

However, Hughes’ divisions were “disappointed” that Air/Space America failed to deliver what it had promised: a large congressional delegation, a bevy of federal procurement officers and qualified buyers from foreign countries.

BP International spokesman Dennis Young acknowledged that attendance was “less than I thought it would be, and we’re all a bit disappointed.” BP and its Hitco subsidiary donated $50,000 to Air/Space America.

For exhibitors that “pre-sold” their existing clients on attending the show, there was no shortage of bona fide business contacts, according to Teledyne Ryan spokesman Peter J. Murphy. However, Teledyne Ryan divisions that failed to convince customers to attend the show were disappointed by slow foot traffic inside the tents, according to Murphy.

“The quality of the people who came by was evident,” said a spokesman for another company that donated $100,000 to become a show founder. “But (attendance) was not in the numbers one would hope to see.”

Exhibitors tied the success of future shows to Air/Space America’s ability to attract major aviation companies that did not attend the premiere show.

BP, which will return in 1990, “would like to see some of the major airframe and engine manufacturers here, because then their major components manufacturers would have to be here,” Young said.

‘A Glaring Absence’

Walsh acknowledged that the show was hurt by the fact that major commercial airframe manufacturers such as Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, British Aerospace and Europe’s Airbus consortium, did not exhibit.

“That was an absence, a glaring absence,” Bettinger said. “The lack of support from the whole commercial aircraft sector eliminates a huge piece of what this show is all about.”

Walsh tied the absence of major airframe and engine exhibitors to regulatory snafus that prohibited Air/Space America from marketing its show in a timely fashion. On Friday, Brown Field was swept by a rumor that Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, the nation’s premiere commercial airliner manufacturers, had agreed to become exhibitors in the 1990 show. Walsh, though enthusiastic about Air/Space America’s ability to attract major exhibitors to the 1990 show, said he has yet to receive a signed commitment from Boeing or McDonnell Douglas.

The first-time show’s marketing campaign also was hamstrung by what Walsh described as a “bare-bones budget” which prohibited a major marketing blitz.

Possible budgetary problems generated lingering doubt that the trade exposition would even occur. Although most exhibitors credited Air/Space America’s promoters with piecing together a credible show, there were problems that might have been expected at a first-time show.

Air/Space America’s construction plans were stalled in April when it rained for several days. “Up until that point, we were three or four days ahead of schedule,” Walsh said. “It ended up being the second-wettest April on record since 1926.”

‘The Curtain Goes Up’

That rain delay forced Air/Space America volunteers and subcontractors to wait until the grounds dried. Then, “we were working 18-hour days to get things ready,” Walsh said. “I likened it to the high school play where work keeps going until the curtain goes up.”

The weekend shows were marred by traffic jams and parking remained a problem during the five-day trade show.

And, when Friday’s relatively minor Santa Ana wind began to drive up temperatures inside the already hot exhibition tents, some major exhibitors began to worry that the heat would destroy their elaborate electronic exhibits.

Hughes Aircraft solved the problem by adding an air-conditioning system at its chalet near Brown Field’s main runway.

Air/Space America simply lacked the $1 million it would have taken to air-condition the tents, Walsh said. “We had to make hard decisions because we only had so much money,” Walsh said.

Exhibitors also complained about support facilities at Air/Space America’s temporary exhibition village at Brown Field. Security was “non-existent,” according to Martin Haseman representing Defence, a British publication.

“We paid $100,000 to be a founder, and if you look around you’ll see that we don’t even have a place to wash our hands,” Cushing complained.

Air/Space America scheduled the bulk of its flying exhibitions during the four weekend shows, a decision that alienated some exhibitors who had expected aircraft to be flying during the week.

Consequently, Air/Space America will give serious consideration to scheduling military commercial and aerobatic aircraft displays during the trade show. Those weekday shows, however, will succeed only if aircraft manufacturers can be convinced to bring their own products along for demonstrations.