linkTo start, flyovers cost America money. According to the Washington Post, each flight hour for the Blue Angels and Thunderbird squadrons costs at least $60,000; with flyovers planned for at least 22 cities between both squadrons, that's a rough cost of at least $1.32 million — enough to purchase dozens of ventilators at, say, $20,000 a pop.
To be fair, this isn't money that's suddenly being allocated to flyovers out of nowhere: one unnamed military official told the Post that "the cost of the flights will come from money already in the Pentagon budget," while The War Zone rightly notes that both Blue Angel and Thunderbird pilots and their support personnel still need to constantly train to maintain their proficiency with the aircraft.
"Whether they are in or working on gray or colorfully painted jets doesn't change that," as The War Zone's Tyler Rogoway notes. "Why not at least use that flight time to spread a positive message and give people a little joy in what has been bleak and uncertain period?"
Perhaps it's less a matter of cost and more a matter of symbolism. If the goal is to send a message of support and solidarity to front-line workers, wouldn't a better sign involve putting more of the 27,000 former soldiers who volunteered to come back into the service to good use? Or answering the call for an influx of personal protective gear to, say, those VA hospitals that are currently struggling without?
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