Grey Cup flyover to be last scheduled Snowbirds show

CALGARY: Nine Snowbirds jets are set to roar over McMahon Stadium on Sunday as the national anthem ends, in what the military aerobatic team says will be its last scheduled public performance in its CT-114 Tutor aircraft.

The flyover at the CFL’s Grey Cup championship game will retire the planes in front of a national television audience, the Canadian Press reported Saturday. The Tutors are to be retired at the end of the year and eventually replaced by the CT-157 Siskin II, and the team is expected to be grounded until the early 2030s.

Capt. Marc-André Plante, who flies as Snowbird 8, told the Canadian Press the game is a fitting send-off. “It is Canada’s demonstration team. It’s Canada’s football league,” he said in an interview.

The jets are to take off from Calgary International Airport and cross the stadium as close to their minimum flight height of about 150 metres as the terrain allows. They will pass overhead as Sarah McLachlan finishes singing O Canada, then return to the airport so the pilots can watch the rest of the game from the stands.

The team is based at 15 Wing in Moose Jaw, Sask., and has never flown anything but the Tutors. It has performed about 2,700 times for more than 140 million people over more than half a century, according to the Canadian Press.

Plante said the federal government’s announcement in May about the retirement has not changed his final months with the team. The squad has tried to fly over as many towns and cities as fuel and time allowed, he said. He added that any other flyovers, including one over Moose Jaw on the way home, will depend on fuel.

Calgary aviation photographer William Gilson, a teacher who estimates he has taken 10,000 to 15,000 photos of the Snowbirds, plans to shoot the flyover from a toboggan hill southwest of the stadium. He told the Canadian Press he expects several hundred other enthusiasts to join him, and that he doubts the team will return once it is grounded. Petitions to keep the Snowbirds flying have circulated, including one tabled in the House of Commons with more than 2,000 signatures.

This year’s game pits the Edmonton Elks against the Montreal Alouettes. Our Grey Cup guide has the kickoff time and broadcast details, and we have also reported on the halftime show and on the future of McMahon Stadium.

This report is based on reporting by The Canadian Press, first published Nov. 14, 2026.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independently owned Canadian newsroom.