‘Goodbye to a good friend’: Snowbirds’ final show to be livestreamed today

Capt. Philip Rochon, public affairs officer for the Snowbirds, said it’s a bittersweet time for the pilots who are saying farewell to the planes the team has flown for 55 years.

“It’s like saying goodbye to a good friend,” he said.

Rochon said the Snowbirds received an outpouring of support over the summer from Canadians across the country who shared memories of past shows and their encounters with an iconic “piece of Canadiana.”

“At the same time, we’re looking forward to the future with the new aircraft that was announced,” he said. “That will come online hopefully in the next few years. We’re looking forward to seeing what the next chapter of the Snowbirds will be.”

Defence Minister David McGuinty announced in May that the old Tutors will be replaced eventually by the Swiss-made PC-21 Pilatus aircraft, known as the CT-157 Siskin II.

The RCAF is also acquiring those same aircraft for pilot training.

While the Snowbirds were formed in 1971, the air force obtained the Tutor jets in 1963.

The Snowbirds will go on a multi-year hiatus until the replacement aircraft are delivered and the team can be trained up on the new planes. That could take until the early 2030s but there’s no set timeline.

The decision to ground the team came after planned upgrades to the Tutors’ engines and escape systems meant to keep them in the air until 2030 encountered a range of problems, including parts obsolescence.

RCAF Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet told reporters at the AERO Gatineau-Ottawa air show last month that it’s been “heartwarming” to see how Canadians have responded over the last season.

“The Snowbirds are so much more than just an air demonstration team, obviously, and it evokes so much emotion and we all have such fond strong memories,” she said.

“I really can’t overstate just how significant they are to Canadians and specifically to the RCAF. The idea that we’d have to take a pause was definitely not an easy one. However, the Tutor aircraft is 63 years old and it is time to move into the future and make sure that we’re doing things for the right reasons.”

She said the demonstration team has been focused solely on finishing the current season. Once that’s done, she said, the RCAF can “build the right kind of plan” to ensure the pilots don’t get rusty in the meantime.

“We’re looking at things like, can we send an exchange into some of our allied teams, or obviously instructing and working with the PC-21 in Moose Jaw as an option,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

‘Goodbye to a good friend’: Snowbirds’ final show to be livestreamed today

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