Operations
Special Olympics Airlift: A Lasting Legacy at Textron Aviation
What started as a call in the mid-1980s is now an institution at Textron Aviation
Special Olympics 2026
Around 130 Beechcraft, Cessna Citation, and Hawker aircraft brought participants to the Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. © Amy Wilder/AIN

Chris Barnes had never before been on an airplane. As a Kansas athlete heading to the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, he boarded Dove 17, a Citation CJ3, for a flight that would carry him not just to Minnesota, but into a memory he'll keep for the rest of his life. 

For hundreds of athletes like Barnes, the Special Olympics Airlift isn’t simply transportation. It’s often their first experience of flight, arriving at the most important competition of their lives already feeling like champions.