US President Donald Trump will no longer rely on the new Air Force One, Boeing 747-8s transformed into presidential aircraft. At least during this term, which will end in early 2029.
According to White House officials, the program to convert two passenger widebodies into VC-25Bs has been further delayed and is now only expected to be completed in 2029 or later.
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Boeing previously targeted delivery of the first 747 by the end of 2024, but pushed the deadline to at least 2027 or 2028, still within Trump’s term.
But changes in requirements and issues in the supply chain prompted a revision of the schedule.
Elon Musk and Boeing seek a solution
The VC-25B had been budgeted during the Obama administration, but when Trump took office he pressured Boeing to cut the program’s costs, which were then budgeted at $4 billion.
The aircraft manufacturer accepted a fixed-cost contract and it soon became clear that the new Air Force Ones would cost more, causing the company to continue to lose money.
Trump has been putting billionaire Elon Musk in charge of finding a solution with Boeing to make up for lost time and make the project cheaper, according to Reuters.
The two current Air Force Ones are Boeing 747-200 jets built specifically for this mission and entered service in the early 1990s.
The aircraft have in-flight refueling pods, while the future VC-25Bs are regular jets that were parked in the desert after the original customer went bankrupt.
