The US Air Force (USAF) revealed that it expects the maiden flight of the VC-25B, the new Air Force One, to only take place by March 2026, according to Breaking Defense.
The new deadline implies a 16-month delay from the previous schedule. The forecast means that the two 747-8s being converted into presidential planes will not be ready for at least two years.
Boeing signed a contract with the Air Force in 2018 with a fixed price of US$3.9 billion and a goal of putting them into service by December 2024.
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The program soon suffered its first delays amid the coronavirus pandemic, when supplier interruptions and conversion work pushed deliveries to 2026.
Unlike the current presidential 747-200s, which were built especially for this purpose, the new Air Force Ones will be aircraft converted from two passenger 747-8s that were in storage after the bankruptcy of a Russian customer.
Fixed-price contracts
The VC-25B will offer more space, comfort and more modern systems, but will not have the possibility of aerial refueling as the cost of installing the equipment would be prohibitive.
Even so, Boeing has already admitted that it will incur losses from the program due to the spending cap, which does not allow the company to pass on any extra costs to the USAF.
After taking on two other fixed-price contracts for KC-46A (767-200) tankers and T-7A Red Hawk trainer jets, Boeing abandoned the competition to build the new “doomsday planes”, which had the Sierra Nevada Corporation as the winner.