Wichita may run air festival on its own

? City officials are still looking for a company to manage this year’s Wichita Aviation Festival.

Newcombe and Associates of Cleveland withdrew its proposal Thursday, declining to comment. The company, which has 30 years experience running air shows in Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio, referred questions to CityArts director John D’Angelo, whose staff ran the first two festivals at McConnell Air Force Base.

D’Angelo said Newcombe wanted to convert the air show into a profit-making venture by moving it to Jabara Airport and charging admission, which by law can’t be done at McConnell.

Another company, Wichita Festivals Inc., withdrew its proposal on Tuesday, but after Newcombe’s announcement said it might be willing to help. Wichita Festivals runs the city’s annual River Festival and did concessions for previous Air Festivals.

Wichita Festivals president Janet Wright said the original proposal was withdrawn because of concerns about raising the money needed or recruiting enough volunteers for a September festival date.

“Our letter yesterday simply eliminated the proposal that we originally submitted from consideration. That’s not to say we won’t be interested in helping as we can in other ways,” Wright said.

Mayor Carlos Mayans said there still were several options for the festival, including having it managed by the city or supporting an open house at McConnell.

A third option would be canceling the event, but Jessica Johnson, the city’s marketing director, said officials “really want the festival to survive.”

“We all agree that we had a great 2003 festival for the centennial of flight, and there were a lot of firsts and we learned a lot, so we don’t want to take a year off.”