Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24074103-20131122113452/@comment-679780-20131125163812

I don't think he is an airbender but I believe to some degree Sonic can control the wind with the use of his own turbulence.

Turbulence is a sort of "after draft" caused by the motion of a fast object, similar to the sucking of a plunger when it traps air. I believe that's how Sonic pulls of his wind based attacks such as Whirlwind.