The Pacific Airshow is returning to Huntington Beach this weekend with a smaller lineup than expected after the show’s organizers announced all their performers connected to the US military were cancelled due to the federal shutdown. 

That means teams like the Air Force’s Thunderbirds and a demo team for the F35 fighter jet will no longer be performing, along with a host of other high profile demonstrations. 

Despite the cancellations, airshow organizer Kevin Elliott said they’d still have an over five-hour show with acts like the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and Royal Air Force Falcons still performing. 

“We still have a full lineup for this year’s show in spite of losing US Military so there is no question that the show is going forward,” Elliott wrote in a Thursday text message.

It’s another rough patch for an airshow that’s become a controversial topic in Huntington Beach politics. 

When the airshow was forced to close up a day early due to an oil spill off the coast in 2021, Elliott sued the city, alleging they hadn’t properly notified him of the event’s cancellation or consulted with him. 

He then supported a slate of new city council members who won a majority in 2022, with those same councilmembers quickly offering him a $5 million settlement. 

The settlement also laid out the terms for his new 25-year contract that was just signed with the city last month, which sees the city paying for most of the airshow’s expenses on public safety and rentals along with giving over thousands of parking spot’s revenues to Elliott.  

[Read: Was Huntington Beach Up Front With Airshow’s Controversial Settlement?]

Last year, heavy cloud cover made the air show difficult to see, causing organizers to allow people to reuse their tickets this year. 

City leaders insist the event is the annual crown jewel of Huntington Beach that brings in the best day of the year for business owners in town, but there are questions over just how much money they end up seeing in sales tax disclosures. 

[Read: Huntington Beach Signs 25-Year Airshow Deal Despite Questions on Benefits]

Most recently, Councilman Chad Williams questioned just how much the air show produces in local tax revenue for the city and unsuccessfully pushed for an audit of the annual event’s finances.

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.