diff --git a/src/cargo/core/features.rs b/src/cargo/core/features.rs
index 4cb5ac5e44b..1c37bc3463d 100644
--- a/src/cargo/core/features.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/core/features.rs
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ impl Features {
 pub struct CliUnstable {
     pub print_im_a_teapot: bool,
     pub unstable_options: bool,
+    pub airplane: bool,
 }
 
 impl CliUnstable {
@@ -262,6 +263,7 @@ impl CliUnstable {
         match k {
             "print-im-a-teapot" => self.print_im_a_teapot = parse_bool(v)?,
             "unstable-options" => self.unstable_options = true,
+            "airplane" => self.airplane = parse_bool(v)?,
             _ => bail!("unknown `-Z` flag specified: {}", k),
         }
 
diff --git a/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs b/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs
index cfefbf48992..777779ad59e 100644
--- a/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ pub fn resolve(summaries: &[(Summary, Method)],
         warnings: RcList::new(),
     };
     let _p = profile::start("resolving");
-    let cx = activate_deps_loop(cx, registry, summaries, config)?;
+    let cx = activate_deps_loop(cx, registry, summaries, &config)?;
 
     let mut resolve = Resolve {
         graph: cx.graph(),
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ impl RemainingCandidates {
 fn activate_deps_loop<'a>(mut cx: Context<'a>,
                           registry: &mut Registry,
                           summaries: &[(Summary, Method)],
-                          config: Option<&Config>)
+                          config: &Option<&Config>)
                           -> CargoResult<Context<'a>> {
     // Note that a `BinaryHeap` is used for the remaining dependencies that need
     // activation. This heap is sorted such that the "largest value" is the most
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ fn activate_deps_loop<'a>(mut cx: Context<'a>,
         // like `Instant::now` by only checking every N iterations of this loop
         // to amortize the cost of the current time lookup.
         ticks += 1;
-        if let Some(config) = config {
+        if let &Some(config) = config {
             if config.shell().is_err_tty() &&
                 !printed &&
                 ticks % 1000 == 0 &&
@@ -722,7 +722,8 @@ fn activate_deps_loop<'a>(mut cx: Context<'a>,
                     None => return Err(activation_error(&cx, registry, &parent,
                                                         &dep,
                                                         cx.prev_active(&dep),
-                                                        &candidates)),
+                                                        &candidates,
+                                                        config)),
                     Some(candidate) => candidate,
                 }
             }
@@ -788,7 +789,8 @@ fn activation_error(cx: &Context,
                     parent: &Summary,
                     dep: &Dependency,
                     prev_active: &[Summary],
-                    candidates: &[Candidate]) -> CargoError {
+                    candidates: &[Candidate],
+                    config: &Option<&Config>) -> CargoError {
     if !candidates.is_empty() {
         let mut msg = format!("failed to select a version for `{}` \
                                (required by `{}`):\n\
@@ -843,7 +845,7 @@ fn activation_error(cx: &Context,
         b.version().cmp(a.version())
     });
 
-    let msg = if !candidates.is_empty() {
+    let mut msg = if !candidates.is_empty() {
         let versions = {
             let mut versions = candidates.iter().take(3).map(|cand| {
                 cand.version().to_string()
@@ -885,6 +887,13 @@ fn activation_error(cx: &Context,
                 dep.source_id(),
                 dep.version_req())
     };
+    // If airplane mode is enabled, then this probably just means that we
+    // haven't downloaded the package yet
+    if let &Some(conf) = config {
+        if conf.cli_unstable().airplane {
+            msg.push_str("\nthis may be failing due to the -Zairplane flag");
+        }
+    }
 
     format_err!("{}", msg)
 }
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_generate_lockfile.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_generate_lockfile.rs
index 0d6ebefb726..3a81b5d5f27 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_generate_lockfile.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_generate_lockfile.rs
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ pub fn update_lockfile(ws: &Workspace, opts: &UpdateOptions)
         bail!("you can't generate a lockfile for an empty workspace.")
     }
 
+    if !ws.config().network_allowed() {
+        bail!("cannot update when network operations are not allowed.");
+    }
+
     let previous_resolve = match ops::load_pkg_lockfile(ws)? {
         Some(resolve) => resolve,
         None => return generate_lockfile(ws),
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs b/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs
index 3d53c59507a..294c74364a3 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ use util::config::{self, Config};
 use util::paths;
 use util::ToUrl;
 use util::errors::{CargoResult, CargoResultExt};
+use util::network::maybe_spurious;
 use util::important_paths::find_root_manifest_for_wd;
 
 pub struct RegistryConfig {
@@ -252,8 +253,15 @@ pub fn registry(config: &Config,
     };
     let api_host = {
         let mut src = RegistrySource::remote(&sid, config);
-        src.update().chain_err(|| {
-            format!("failed to update {}", sid)
+        src.update().map_err(|e| {
+            if maybe_spurious(&e) {
+                    e.context(
+                        format!("failed to update {} due to network issues. \
+                             Try using airplane mode by passing the \
+                             -Zaiplane flag", sid))
+            } else {
+                e.context(format!("failed to update {}", sid))
+            }
         })?;
         (src.config()?).unwrap().api.unwrap()
     };
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/resolve.rs b/src/cargo/ops/resolve.rs
index 2ccf3b394fa..709186003ac 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/resolve.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/resolve.rs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ pub fn resolve_ws_precisely<'a>(ws: &Workspace<'a>,
     let resolve = if ws.require_optional_deps() {
         // First, resolve the root_package's *listed* dependencies, as well as
         // downloading and updating all remotes and such.
-        let resolve = resolve_with_registry(ws, &mut registry, false)?;
+        let resolve = resolve_with_registry(ws, &mut registry, true)?;
 
         // Second, resolve with precisely what we're doing. Filter out
         // transitive dependencies if necessary, specify features, handle
diff --git a/src/cargo/sources/git/source.rs b/src/cargo/sources/git/source.rs
index a07782b4fdf..bdc7e2e8d9b 100644
--- a/src/cargo/sources/git/source.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/sources/git/source.rs
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ impl<'cfg> Source for GitSource<'cfg> {
         let should_update = actual_rev.is_err() ||
                             self.source_id.precise().is_none();
 
-        let (repo, actual_rev) = if should_update {
+        let (repo, actual_rev) = if should_update && self.config.network_allowed() {
             self.config.shell().status("Updating",
                 format!("git repository `{}`", self.remote.url()))?;
 
diff --git a/src/cargo/sources/git/utils.rs b/src/cargo/sources/git/utils.rs
index f29bdb8fdb9..d4fb1c6dbec 100644
--- a/src/cargo/sources/git/utils.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/sources/git/utils.rs
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ impl GitDatabase {
         let checkout = match git2::Repository::open(dest) {
             Ok(repo) => {
                 let mut checkout = GitCheckout::new(dest, self, rev, repo);
-                if !checkout.is_fresh() {
+                if !checkout.is_fresh() && cargo_config.network_allowed() {
                     checkout.fetch(cargo_config)?;
                     checkout.reset(cargo_config)?;
                     assert!(checkout.is_fresh());
diff --git a/src/cargo/sources/registry/index.rs b/src/cargo/sources/registry/index.rs
index 4f92238c17f..021227e07ac 100644
--- a/src/cargo/sources/registry/index.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/sources/registry/index.rs
@@ -115,10 +115,18 @@ impl<'cfg> RegistryIndex<'cfg> {
             // allow future cargo implementations to break the
             // interpretation of each line here and older cargo will simply
             // ignore the new lines.
-            ret.extend(lines.filter_map(|line| {
+            let summaries = lines.filter_map(|line| {
                 self.parse_registry_package(line).ok()
-            }));
-
+            });
+            if self.config.network_allowed() {
+                ret.extend(summaries);
+            } else {
+                // Since we're in airplane mode, we need to further filter
+                // the packages to only ones that we have downloaded
+                ret.extend(summaries.filter(|&(ref sum, _)| {
+                    load.is_crate_downloaded(sum.package_id())
+                }));
+            }
             Ok(())
         });
 
diff --git a/src/cargo/sources/registry/local.rs b/src/cargo/sources/registry/local.rs
index 5803fd77d94..fa5dbba3c51 100644
--- a/src/cargo/sources/registry/local.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/sources/registry/local.rs
@@ -102,4 +102,9 @@ impl<'cfg> RegistryData for LocalRegistry<'cfg> {
 
         Ok(crate_file)
     }
+
+    fn is_crate_downloaded(&self, pkg: &PackageId) -> bool {
+        let crate_file = format!("{}-{}.crate", pkg.name(), pkg.version());
+        self.root.open_ro(&crate_file, self.config, "crate file").is_ok()
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/cargo/sources/registry/mod.rs b/src/cargo/sources/registry/mod.rs
index 27984aa6cba..e849569ceec 100644
--- a/src/cargo/sources/registry/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/sources/registry/mod.rs
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ pub trait RegistryData {
     fn download(&mut self,
                 pkg: &PackageId,
                 checksum: &str) -> CargoResult<FileLock>;
+    fn is_crate_downloaded(&self, pkg: &PackageId) -> bool;
 }
 
 mod index;
diff --git a/src/cargo/sources/registry/remote.rs b/src/cargo/sources/registry/remote.rs
index 489d001b952..37585ed2cff 100644
--- a/src/cargo/sources/registry/remote.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/sources/registry/remote.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ use sources::registry::{RegistryData, RegistryConfig, INDEX_LOCK, CRATE_TEMPLATE
 use util::network;
 use util::{FileLock, Filesystem, LazyCell};
 use util::{Config, Sha256, ToUrl, Progress};
-use util::errors::{CargoResult, CargoResultExt, HttpNot200};
+use util::errors::{CargoResult, HttpNot200};
+use util::network::maybe_spurious;
 
 pub struct RemoteRegistry<'cfg> {
     index_path: Filesystem,
@@ -153,6 +154,12 @@ impl<'cfg> RegistryData for RemoteRegistry<'cfg> {
     }
 
     fn update_index(&mut self) -> CargoResult<()> {
+        // Before checking the HTTP handle, check if we're in airplane mode
+        // If we are,  then return Ok early, since we know that we don't
+        // want to update the index, but it's not an error.
+        if !self.config.network_allowed(){
+            return Ok(());
+        }
         // Ensure that we'll actually be able to acquire an HTTP handle later on
         // once we start trying to download crates. This will weed out any
         // problems with `.cargo/config` configuration related to HTTP.
@@ -173,8 +180,15 @@ impl<'cfg> RegistryData for RemoteRegistry<'cfg> {
         let url = self.source_id.url();
         let refspec = "refs/heads/master:refs/remotes/origin/master";
         let repo = self.repo.borrow_mut().unwrap();
-        git::fetch(repo, url, refspec, self.config).chain_err(|| {
-            format!("failed to fetch `{}`", url)
+        git::fetch(repo, url, refspec, self.config).map_err(|e| {
+            if maybe_spurious(&e) {
+                e.context(
+                    format!("failed to fetch `{}` due to network issues. \
+                             Try using airplane mode by passing the \
+                             -Zaiplane flag", url))
+            } else {
+                e.context(format!("failed to fetch `{}`", url))
+            }
         })?;
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -258,6 +272,18 @@ impl<'cfg> RegistryData for RemoteRegistry<'cfg> {
         dst.seek(SeekFrom::Start(0))?;
         Ok(dst)
     }
+
+    fn is_crate_downloaded(&self, pkg: &PackageId) -> bool {
+        let filename = format!("{}-{}.crate", pkg.name(), pkg.version());
+        let path = Path::new(&filename);
+
+        if let Ok(dst) = self.cache_path.open_ro(path, self.config, &filename) {
+            if let Ok(metadata) = dst.file().metadata() {
+                return metadata.len() > 0;
+            }
+        }
+        false
+    }
 }
 
 impl<'cfg> Drop for RemoteRegistry<'cfg> {
diff --git a/src/cargo/util/config.rs b/src/cargo/util/config.rs
index 77577ab3077..e8e35049798 100644
--- a/src/cargo/util/config.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/util/config.rs
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ impl Config {
     }
 
     pub fn network_allowed(&self) -> bool {
-        !self.frozen
+        !(self.frozen || self.cli_unstable().airplane)
     }
 
     pub fn lock_update_allowed(&self) -> bool {
diff --git a/src/cargo/util/network.rs b/src/cargo/util/network.rs
index 170805695b3..d87e8fcf2bc 100644
--- a/src/cargo/util/network.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/util/network.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use failure::Error;
 use util::Config;
 use util::errors::{CargoResult, HttpNot200};
 
-fn maybe_spurious(err: &Error) -> bool {
+pub fn maybe_spurious(err: &Error) -> bool {
     for e in err.causes() {
         if let Some(git_err) = e.downcast_ref::<git2::Error>() {
             match git_err.class() {
diff --git a/tests/cargo-features.rs b/tests/cargo-features.rs
index 0434b776e10..9ab40dcbdfd 100644
--- a/tests/cargo-features.rs
+++ b/tests/cargo-features.rs
@@ -238,6 +238,16 @@ error: the `-Z` flag is only accepted on the nightly channel of Cargo
                 execs().with_status(101)
                        .with_stderr("\
 error: unknown `-Z` flag specified: arg
+"));
+
+    assert_that(p.cargo("build")
+                 .masquerade_as_nightly_cargo()
+                 .arg("-Zairplane"),
+                execs().with_status(0)
+                       .with_stdout("")
+                       .with_stderr("\
+[COMPILING] a [..]
+[FINISHED] [..]
 "));
 
     assert_that(p.cargo("build")
@@ -246,7 +256,6 @@ error: unknown `-Z` flag specified: arg
                 execs().with_status(0)
                        .with_stdout("im-a-teapot = true\n")
                        .with_stderr("\
-[COMPILING] a [..]
 [FINISHED] [..]
 "));
 }