Page 7 - Volume 15 Number 12

DECEMBER 2021
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 5
History of the Special Olympics Airlift
The 2022 Special Olympics Airlift will be the eighth coordinated by Cessna Aircraft Company and now Textron Aviation. Since 1987, customers and industry partners have combined to provide transportation for nearly 10,000 athletes and coaches from across the United States to Special Olympics World Games and USA Games.
Here’s a look at the event’s history:
1985: Cessna transported the Special Olympics Kansas delegation in two Cessna Citation
business jets to the International Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah
1987: First official Citation Special Olympics Airlift: 132 aircraft flew athletes to the International Summer Games in South Bend, Indiana
1991: Second Citation Special Olympics Airlift, 180 aircraft flew athletes to the International Summer Games in St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota
1995: Third Citation Special Olympics Airlift, 197 aircraft flew athletes to the International Summer Games in Hartford, Connecticut
1999: Fourth Citation Special Olympics Airlift, 260 aircraft flew athletes to the International Summer Games in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
2006: Fifth Citation Special Olympics Airlift, 235 aircraft flew athletes to the U.S. National Games in Des Moines, Iowa
2010: Sixth Citation Special Olympics Airlift, 160 aircraft flew athletes to the U.S. National Games in Lincoln, Nebraska
2014: Seventh Citation Special Olympics Airlift, 97 aircraft flew athletes to the U.S. National Games in Trenton, New Jersey
2022: Eighth Special Olympics Airlift, goal of 200+ aircraft to fly athletes to the USA Games in Orlando, Florida
Source: Textron Aviation