Blue Angels jets slated to fly when Westmoreland airshow returns in 2021

The Shop ’n Save Westmoreland County Airshow should be flying high once more in 2021 — after taking hiatus next year — with a return of the Blue Angels Navy jet team as the chief attraction.

Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo received word Tuesday that the popular jet demonstration squad is planning to be on hand during Memorial Day weekend for the tentatively slated show at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.

“It’s great for the airport, and we’ll be happy to have them back,” Monzo said of the Blue Angels. The team last appeared at the local airshow in 2017.

The Blue Angels released its 2021 show schedule Tuesday at the International Council of Air Shows convention in Pensacola, Fla., and on the team’s Facebook page. It shows the team visiting the Arnold Palmer airport between shows slated for May 26 through 28 at Annapolis, Md., and June 5 and 6 at Lake Charles, La.

The authority announced last month the airshow likely wouldn’t come together for 2020 because organizers were unable to schedule the Blue Angels or any other major jet team, such as the Air Force Thunderbirds.

A major jet demonstration team is needed to draw crowds estimated at about 100,000 in some years. A study by the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau indicates each of those visitors may spend between $100 and $400 in the county.

The Shop ’n Save supermarket chain is ready to return in 2021 as the airshow sponsor, a role it has filled for the past six years, according to Rich Haeflein, the company’s advertising account manager.

“We can’t wait to get back on board again, especially with the Blue Angels coming,” Haeflein said.

In conjunction with the show, Shop ’n Save in recent years has teamed with Feherty’s Troops First Foundation, which helps service members who were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Having the show occur on Memorial Day weekend, as it did this year, brings an added focus to that relationship. “The airshow truly embodies our commitment to the community and the military, in a meaningful but entertaining way,” Haeflein said.

A project to widen the runway at the Unity airport, from 100 feet to 150 feet, should be completed before the 2021 event. Construction is expected to begin in April, with contractor Golden Triangle working at night to add a 25-foot strip on the northwest edge of the runway, authority engineer Scott Kunselman said.

A complete shutdown of the runway is anticipated over 16 days next September, to allow widening of the opposite edge — the one closest to the terminal building — and installation of new navigation lights.

Once planned improvements are complete, including strengthening the runway with an additional three-inch layer of asphalt, “the airport will be open to any airplane that wants to come in here,” authority Chairman Don Rossi said.

Monzo has explained the Unity airport operates under a general waiver that allows intermittent flights by craft the size of the 163,000-pound Airbus planes used by Spirit Airlines, the sole commercial carrier. He said strengthening the runway will allow it to withstand more frequent flights by Spirit or other potential carriers.