The Citation Special Olympics Airlift (CSOA) will launch next summer for the seventh time. For 2014, the jets will converge on New Jersey’s Trenton-Mercer County Airport (KTTN), arriving ahead of the games that begin on June 14 and departing the next week after the closing ceremonies on June 21. At this week’s National Business Aviation Association show in Las Vegas, Cessna is asking for volunteer Citation operators to step up for the effort.
The first CSOA was in 1987, when 130 Citations carried nearly 1,000 athletes to South Bend, Indiana, for the games. The most recent airlift was in 2010 and included 161 jets descending on Lincoln, Nebraska. For next year’s games, Cessna hopes to field 175 Citations and carry 800 or more athletes from all 50 states to the event near Princeton, New Jersey.
Rhonda Fullerton, Cessna’s director of CSOA, said, “Over the past six airlifts, Citation owners have contributed millions of dollars to the Special Olympics USA Games by way of donations of time, fuel and resources. It is gratifying to organize this campaign, being able to provide a cost savings to the games while at the same time giving 1,000 athletes and coaches the flight of a lifetime, and to be part of a week they will never forget.”
To become involved in the airlift, contact Fullerton at 316-517-LIFT or by email at [email protected].
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