Fifty-five years since their first-ever performance in Moose Jaw, the Snowbirds took to the sky Saturday before what could be an extended pause.

The federal government announced the Snowbirds will be kept out of the sky until the early 2030s and until the team’s aging Tutor jets are replaced with the new CT-157 Siskin II.

For Senator Denise Batters, it was a day of pride tangled up with mixed emotions. 

“It’s a wonderful, perfect day for the Snowbirds,” Batters said. “However, we’re a bit sad — because it is the last one with the Tutor jets.”

She wore a T-shirt given to her late husband, who flew with the Snowbirds in 2005 while serving as the area’s MP.

“It seemed like a beautiful, perfect time for it to be worn today,” she said, “to honour the Snowbirds and all of their service.”

“We should keep them flying, and then get the replacement,” she said. “And they should be replacement jets — not props.”

She’s not the only one who feels that way. 

The Keep Them Flying campaign has sent more than 25,000 postcards to Parliament Hill in both official languages since launching — pre-addressed, postage-free, and downloadable for anyone to print and mail.

“We wanted to do something and see what we could do to keep them flying into 2030, when the new planes arrive,” Melissa McLean, a volunteer who designed the campaign’s website and postcard said. 

“The ask is very simple,” McLean said. “It could be a reduced formation, simplified shows — there’s got to be a way that can keep these Snowbirds in the sky until the new planes arrive.”

For now, the jets are grounded — but the campaign to change that continues.