Wobbler, you make some interesting points. Certainly when I was first told about SoA, at the end of February, there was no mention of the Contractor Link. Nor was there any mention of participation; we just assumed that it would be standard Air Force content etc but served up in a different way.
We were certainly told that there had been consternation at the Participation Committee meeting in January when the new format was unveiled. Consternation because the professional airshow organisers had already put in up to 6 months work on this years shows. (Professional as in Waddington etc).
Now if the concept was unveilled in January and the framework only alluded to in February, just how much work could be put in March and April? Notwithstanding ongoing operations there was the small matter of forward planning, leave, etc.