Special Olympics Airlift: A Lasting Legacy at Textron Aviation

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.

That experience—the wonder, the welcome, the sense of being celebrated before ever stepping onto a field—traces back nearly 40 years to a phone call remembered in Textron lore. In 1985, Russ Meyer Jr., then-chairman and CEO of Cessna Aircraft, answered a request from Kansas Special Olympics to help transport 12 athletes to the Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Commercial travel would have meant cumbersome connections. Instead, the athletes arrived in a few hours with Meyer's help. 

Meyer later met with Special Olympics president Sargent Shriver, husband of founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and learned how often athletes from small towns faced long, exhausting, and expensive journeys just to compete. He began imagining how business aircraft owners and operators could help.

By 1987, that idea became reality with what was then called the Citation Special Olympics Airlift. At the Summer Games in South Bend, Indiana, more than a hundred aircraft arrived and departed carrying participants for the games. Volunteers greeted each athlete as they passed through a flower-decked archway, a touch that has seeded Airlift traditions.

At its largest, the event has seen 340 aircraft participate in a single day, with close to 12 hours of coordinated arrivals and departures. Now, athletes receive literal red-carpet treatment, with loud cheers, snacks, music, entertainment, and a lounge area at the FBO. Volunteers run a well-oiled machine, with logistics for everything from luggage to flights staggeringly well thought out.

Meyer died earlier this year, but the mission he conceived continues to grow. Now organized by Textron Aviation and held every four years alongside the Special Olympics USA Games, the Airlift has transported more than 10,000 athletes and coaches since its founding. And volunteers tend to tear up when they talk about why they love helping.

The Minneapolis Orchestration

This year’s ninth edition on June 19 and 27 coordinated flights to and from St. Paul Downtown Airport (KSTP) for the 2026 USA Games, held June 20 to 26 across Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Approximately 130 Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker aircraft, each flying under the call sign “Dove,” carried roughly 800 athletes and coaches. 

Aircraft launched from 26 cities nationwide, including Grand Rapids, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C., many hosting sendoff celebrations before their delegations departed for Minnesota. Total round-trip mileage approached 300,000 nm. At St. Paul, air traffic controllers and ground teams kept arrivals on a tight three-to-four-minute rhythm all day long.

Dove 1 for arrival day was a Cessna Citation Latitude operated by Prent Corporation. “This is one of the most meaningful missions we fly,” said pilot Chris Clawson. “The Airlift brings together aviation and purpose in a way that creates unforgettable experiences for these athletes and reminds all of us we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves.” 

For the return flight on June 27, Dove 1 belonged to Omani and Jeanie Carson, who donated the use of their Cessna Citation to fly athletes back to their home communities.

Patrick Tageder and Chris Suhs piloted Dove 1 on departure weekend. For Tageder, it marked his second Special Olympics Airlift. For Suhs, it was a first experience. Both described being struck by the atmosphere awaiting them. “The energy was great when we walked through,” Suhs said. “We thought—athletes had shown up cheering, and I'm like, ‘Man, I felt pretty special.’” He added that the event’s logistics were “top notch.”

Tageder echoed the sentiment. “It’s just a great honor to be a part of something that means so much to these kids,” he told AIN. “They put in 100%. It’s a big thing for them.” Asked what draws him back, he pointed to the volunteers themselves. “I think it’s seeing people really shine, the good of the people, the volunteer work that they’re doing,” he said. “Everyone is giving 110% to make it special for the athletes.”

Company Commitment

That volunteer commitment extends deep into Textron Aviation’s workforce, with employees vying for the chance to help out. Ron Draper, president and CEO of Textron Aviation, has now taken part in three Airlifts. This year, he said, close to 200 company employees worked across the two weekends. 

“We’re going to work 12 hours today, and not one personal complaint,” Draper said on departure day. “At the end of the day, everybody’s thrilled they got to be a part of it.” He noted that employees often thank him for the chance to participate and, just as often, ask to do it again in four years.

For Draper, the mission reflects something core to the company’s culture. “It feels good as a human to do stuff for other people, especially people that may not necessarily be able to do something back for you,” he said, adding, “It’s about how we treat each other and have a culture where we work together as teammates and respect each other.”

Draper was also quick to correct a possible misconception about the event: the donors and volunteers make real sacrifices for the participants out of generosity. “This is all donated,” he said. “These athletes aren’t paying anything. It’s free transportation” for the athletes, thanks to aircraft owners who donate flight time and pay for their own fuel. “It’s a huge charitable thing,” he explained.

This year’s Airlift included an unusual addition. The Arizona Cardinals owner, who typically flies his own Citation and has participated in past Airlifts, offered something bigger this time: the NFL football team’s Boeing 777, operated in partnership with Gridiron Air. The aircraft carried the entire Arizona and New Mexico delegations on a single flight. “We’ve never let Boeing fly with us before,” Draper said, “but it was a chance to help the athletes.” The Triple Seven widebody airliner became this year’s largest Dove.

The Airlift’s growing profile has also attracted high-profile supporters. Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning serves as honorary chair. Country music artist Dierks Bentley, serving as an ambassador for the event, said, “These athletes have trained so hard for this, so it’s pretty special to see the aviation community come together to help them get there.”

Nearly four decades after Russ Meyer answered a phone call about 12 athletes needing a ride, the conviction that aviation could do more than move people from one place to another has carried thousands of athletes toward their moment to shine. This year, it carried Chris Barnes on his first-ever flight, along with three other athletes and a coach, and put nearly 150 athletes aboard an NFL team's Boeing 777. The aircraft may change. The mission and heart does not.