Thursday morning, as a crowd gathered to welcome the Blue Angels at the airport, a few local leaders spoke on the show's positive impact on the community.

They're back! The roar across the sky this afternoon serves as an exciting reminder, it's almost show time! This will be the 4th air show in Tuscaloosa featuring the Blue Angels since 2009, the last being in 2012. This year's event promises to be nothing short of spectacular! Along with various air performers to amaze us, there will be lots of ground activities and aircraft displays. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox shared his excitement by saying "this is a great event for our area and I hope that everyone makes plans to attend the 2015 Tuscaloosa Regional Air Show presented by Pepsi."

Mayor Maddox also noted:

  • About 200 cities apply to bring the Blue Angels to town but only about 40 actually get accepted.
  • The Tuscaloosa Regional Air Show costs about $600,000 to put on but can bring in up to $10 million for the area’s economy.

Mayor Billy Herndon advised everyone to be careful on the roads this weekend because a lot of wrecks tend to happen when the Blue Angels start flying.

More of what our local leaders had to say, as Mayors Maddox and Herndon, along with Judge McCollum spoke on the show and fielded media questions in the video clip below.

General admission tickets are $5 in advance, $10 at the gate. Children 12 and under are free. Tickets for reserved seating sections are also available.  No coolers.  Blankets, chairs and small umbrellas are okay.

The City of Tuscaloosa advises everyone to take advantage of the free shuttles to and from the event this weekend. Traffic will be a very congested if you try to drive close to the airport, so park and ride in.

More From 95.3 The Bear