The National Airspace System has a direct bearing on air show planning, and the Air Boss needs to understand its structure — not at the depth of an instrument-rated pilot, but well enough to know who holds authority over which piece of sky.

Walk through the classes. Most air show sites I’ve worked are Class D airports.

That’s the most common. Class D runs from the surface to roughly 2,500 feet AGL around airports with control towers — standard coordination requirement. Class C adds Approach Control coordination on top of the tower, which means an additional pre-show step for those sites. Class B is the most restrictive — surface to roughly10,000 MSL around major airports — and a show site in Class B requires additional FAA approval beyond the standard COW process.

And then there’s Class E and Class G for rural or remote sites.

Class E is controlled airspace not otherwise classified — most cross-country IFR routing runs through it. Class G is uncontrolled, typically below 700 to 1,200 AGL in rural areas. Class A starts at 18,000 MSL and is IFR-only— not a show site concern in practice, but you should know where it begins.

What about adjacent airspace — MOAs, restricted areas?

Military Operations Areas and Restricted Areas adjacent to or overlapping the show site affect performer routing to and from the site. Identify your airspace class and any adjacent special use airspace during initial planning, before a waiver document is prepared. ATC does not control the Air Show Demonstration Area during performance, but surrounding airspace remains under ATC authority throughout. Performer routing that crosses class boundaries before or after the show requires prior ATC coordination.