ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 19, 2026--
The 2026 Special Olympics Airlift officially took flight today as all participating Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker aircraft, known as Doves, departed from airports across the country. Dove 1 for arrival day, a Cessna Citation Latitude generously operated by Prent Corporation, landed at St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) carrying Special Olympic athletes and delegation members, signaling the start of Airlift arrivals for the Special Olympics USA Games.
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The arrival signals the start of the world’s largest cumulative peacetime airlift spanning more than 40 years, a coordinated aviation effort organized by Textron Aviation, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, that transports hundreds of Special Olympics athletes and coaches from multiple states to compete on the national stage. Throughout the day, approximately 130 aircraft will arrive at STP in a carefully orchestrated operation with aircraft landing every three to four minutes.
“The arrival of Dove 1 is always a powerful moment,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO, Textron Aviation. “It represents months of planning, the generosity of the aviation community and most importantly, the excitement and anticipation of athletes arriving ready to compete.”
Giving Back Through Flight
The Special Olympics Airlift mobilizes volunteer pilots and aircraft from across the country who donate their time and resources in support of the Airlift. Now in its ninth year, the initiative has transported over 10,000 athletes and coaches to Special Olympics events, giving them a first-class experience ahead of the competition. Pilots, crew members and ground teams launched departures Friday morning from 26 locations nationwide including Grand Rapids, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., each hosting sendoff celebrations as local communities bid farewell to their Special Olympics delegations traveling to Minnesota for the Special Olympics USA Games.
“This is one of the most meaningful missions we fly,” said Chris Clawson, Dove 1 Pilot, Prent Corporation. “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.”
Throughout the day, additional Doves will continue arriving at STP, with athletes greeted by volunteers and Special Olympics representatives before traveling onward to the Games. The carefully choreographed operation relies on collaboration among pilots, air traffic controllers, airport authorities, volunteers and Special Olympics staff.
With total roundtrip miles expected to reach almost 300,000 nm, and coordinated arrivals spanning hours of precision planning, the 2026 Airlift will once again demonstrate the scale, reliability and generosity of the aviation community.
Athletes in the Air
For many athletes, the Airlift marks their first time flying and serves as a defining moment in their journey to the Special Olympics USA Games. The Airlift ensures athletes arrive ready to compete, while also delivering an experience that celebrates their achievements before the competition begins.
“Traveling to Minnesota and taking part in the 2026 USA Games is an opportunity to climb higher,” said Emmanuel Benitez, Special Olympics Indiana, flag football athlete. “USA Games is a reason to train harder and expect the unexpected.”
All-Stars for Athletes
The 2026 Special Olympics Airlift is supported by high-profile advocates and ambassadors who share a commitment to inclusion and community.
“The Special Olympics Airlift represents the best of teamwork, leadership and heart,” said Peyton Manning, Honorary Chair, Special Olympics Airlift. “It’s amazing to see so many people come together to make sure these athletes get the opportunity they deserve to shine on a national stage.”
“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,” said Dierks Bentley, Ambassador, Special Olympics Airlift. “When you see that kind of grit, you want to do whatever you can to support it. I'm honored to be a small part of it.”
For updates and behind-the-scenes coverage of this week’s events, visit https://airlift.txtav.com/.
About Textron Aviation
We inspire the journey of flight. For more than 95 years, Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has empowered our collective talent across the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands to design and deliver the best aviation experience for our customers. With a range that includes everything from business jets, turboprops, and high-performance pistons, to special mission, military trainer and defense products, Textron Aviation has the most versatile and comprehensive aviation product portfolio in the world and a workforce that has produced more than half of all general aviation aircraft worldwide. Customers in more than 170 countries rely on our legendary performance, reliability and versatility, along with our trusted global customer service network, for affordable and flexible flight. For more information, visit www.txtav.com.
About Special Olympics USA Games
The 2026 Special Olympics USA Games—scheduled for June 20-26, 2026, across Minnesota’s Twin Cities with sports competitions at the University of Minnesota and the National Sports Center in Blaine—is a national celebration of inclusivity, changing perceptions and the ability of the human spirit rising above limitations. The USA Games, with co-presenting partners Jersey Mike’s Subs and United Healthcare, will be one of the biggest U.S. sporting events of the year, drawing tens of thousands of fans to celebrate the ability of over 3,000 incredible athletes from all 50 states as they compete in 16 Olympic-type team and individual sports. As a state with a long history of championing diversity, equity and inclusion, the USA Games now bring an unrivaled opportunity to spark new energy around the Special Olympics movement and create a lasting legacy of positive change.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pipistrel, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com.
Special Olympics Airlift takes flight nationwide; Dove 1 arrives at St. Paul Downtown Airport (Photo credit: Textron Aviation).
ZURICH (AP) — The American push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag Friday, just days after the signing of an agreement that opens a two-month window for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program and returning oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels.
Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that Israeli strikes on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place, according to three regional officials and a person familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing mediation to try to get the talks rescheduled and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The situation was fluid as Israel and Hezbollah agreed on Friday to renew their ceasefire, according to a U.S. official and regional officials. It remains to be seen whether that could help put the U.S.-Iran talks back on track.
In Washington, President Donald Trump lashed out once again in the midst of the intensified fighting in Lebanon and the stalled nuclear talks.
“We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did,” Trump wrote in a social media post Friday. “They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”
Trump's vice president, JD Vance, had been prepared to make an overnight flight to meet with his Iranian counterparts at a mountainside resort in the tiny Swiss village of Obbürgen and begin the technical talks.
Vance's staff and a small group of journalists had gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in anticipation of the trip. Dozens of White House officials, advance staffers and more media were already in Switzerland.
Then the trip was called off — abruptly and for the time being.
A White House statement said Vance, tapped by Trump to lead the negotiations, decided to postpone his travel. It made no mention of the escalating violence in Lebanon.
“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement said.
But, according to officials, the Iranians made clear to the White House that they had balked at starting the talks with Vance because of the Israeli action in Lebanon.
The fighting had intensified with at least 18 killed by Israeli airstrikes, while four Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, officials said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military would stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it.”
Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the U.S.-Iran agreement.
Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal does not explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”
Hours before postponing his trip, Vance gave some indication of the state of flux when he told reporters at a White House briefing that he was uncertain if the talks were going to happen this weekend.
“We think these technical negotiations start sometime this weekend," Vance said. "That’s still the plan. But that could change.”
Soon after Vance spoke to reporters, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, endorsed direct negotiations with the United States. His terse statement, read by state media, appeared to signal to the Islamic Republic’s leadership that it could move forward with a first round of talks.
“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” Khamenei said.
The messaging seemed to give Khamenei, who was badly wounded in the U.S. strike on Feb. 28 that killed his father, some maneuverability. Hard-liners in the Iranian government, including Khamenei’s father, long opposed direct talks with the White House, especially after Trump, during his first term, pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by Democratic President Barack Obama's administration.
Vance was initially expected to go to Switzerland to sign the agreement at a formal ceremony. Instead, Trump signed the document Wednesday during a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron. Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, separately signed the agreement.
It says Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble left by U.S. military strikes last year targeting Tehran’s key nuclear sites, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision.
It also says Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment Tehran has made previously. Other commitments remain to be worked out.
Iranians would be going into the talks with a measure of confidence after effectively shutting down the strait, causing global economic reverberations, said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities in Washington.
She said the U.S. is now “essentially trying to negotiate our way back to the prewar status quo."
Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House think tank, said the “buoyant” Iranian leadership feels it has the upper hand. The endorsement of the talks by the Iranian supreme leader “sends a very strong signal domestically: ’We’re now on an equal footing with the U.S.'”
”‘Trump has gone from calling for regime change on Feb. 28 to this: Now they’re going to sit down with us directly and talk about these big issues,'” Quilliam said of the Iranians' thinking. “So it’s intended more for the domestic audience, and telling them: ‘We are firmly in control of this. There can be no protests, no revolution: We are a new regime and we’re staying put.’”
For Vance, a likely 2028 presidential contender, how the negotiations play out could have enormous ramifications for his political fortunes.
Vance's skepticism of foreign wars was a core part of his political identity during his political rise, which included election as a U.S. senator. Now he finds himself the chief defender of negotiating an endgame to Trump's conflict that Democrats have largely derided as a foolish gambit. Some hawkish Republicans are aghast that Trump is getting behind a settlement that could put billions of dollars into Iran's coffers.
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said aspects of the deal are “completely out of step” with Trump's goals.
Trump fiercely criticized Obama for the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump argued failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon and funneled billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic. The Republican president exited the U.S. from the deal in 2018.
Trump has pushed back against comparisons to that earlier agreement, saying he had “negotiated from strength” after a major military campaign while asserting that Obama was paying the Iranians off and not receiving acquiescence.
Wicker, R-Miss., was particularly concerned about the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran mentioned in the 14-point agreement. Trump and Vance have said no U.S. taxpayer money would go to such a fund and it would not come without concessions and reforms by Tehran.
Magdy reported from Cairo.
Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
U.S. President Donald Trump receives a tour of Chateau de Versailles from President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a dinner on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 in Versailles, France, after the G7 summit in Evian, France. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance listens as a reporter asks a question in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
