Boeing has a contract to replace Air Force One. What's the delay?

Boston Globe

13-05-2025

Here's what you need to know.
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How old is Air Force One, and what type of plane is it?
Two modified Boeing 747 planes serve as Air Force One. Both are about 35 years old and have been flying since President George H.W. Bush was in office.
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What did Boeing's Air Force One contract promise?
The Air Force awarded a contract to Boeing for two new Air Force One planes in July 2018 at a total cost of $3.9 billion, after months of negotiation.
As part of the fixed-price contract - the cost of which can't change because of price fluctuations or delays - Boeing promised to build and deliver two new Air Force One planes by 2024, complete with features unique to presidential aircraft such as antimissile defense systems, electronic protection from hacking and nuclear explosions, and advanced communications systems for contacting the Pentagon.
Trump criticized Boeing's timeline for the project before it was even officially announced. During his first term, Trump pushed the plane maker to move up the delivery date to 2021, The Washington Post previously reported. He also made dubious claims that his cost negotiations with Boeing saved taxpayers more than $1.4 billion.
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Why is the Air Force One replacement delayed?
Boeing has blamed a variety of factors, according to Scott Hamilton, managing director at Leeham Company, an aviation consultancy firm: the bankruptcy of one of the company's key suppliers, delays for workers needing proper security clearances, hefty turnover at the San Antonio facility where the work is being done, and the pandemic's upending of global supply chains soon after Boeing started the project.
The company has lost $2.5 billion on the contract, and the fixed-price language means it's on the hook for the project's ballooning cost overruns.
The delay is among a string of high-profile missteps for Boeing, which has lost money every year since 2019. Boeing machinists went on strike for several weeks last year. Two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, and a terrifying door blowout in January 2024, involving Boeing's flagship 737 Max airliners shattered trust in the company.
Boeing also left astronauts stranded in space for nine months when its Starliner capsule suffered propulsion problems, further battering its reputation for safety and manufacturing competence.
Boeing's struggles in both its commercial and defense business in recent years have demonstrated a 'systemic issue' with the company's ability to get jobs done and undoubtedly exacerbated Air Force One delays, Hamilton said.
Boeing did not respond to The Washington Post's request for comment.
Darlene Costello, the Air Force's acting assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, wrote in testimony submitted to the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday that the new planes now face delays related to 'interior supplier transition, manpower limitations and wiring design completion.'
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The Air Force and Boeing want to have a replacement for Air Force One ready by 2027 - two years earlier than the 2029 estimate the White House shared last month - and are searching for options to speed up production, Costello told lawmakers.
For example, the Air Force has temporarily waived certain security clearance requirements for Boeing workers responsible for assembling the planes, which has enabled Boeing to be 'more efficient and productive,' Costello said. But the 2027 date is realistic only if the Air Force and Boeing agree on a trade-off of contract requirements and solve 'a few remaining issues,' she added.
What is the plane that Qatar might gift to Trump?
The Qatari royal family wants to give Trump a multi-hundred-million-dollar 'palace in the sky' aircraft, which Trump said in a social media post Sunday was a Boeing 747. This luxury plane, which is believed to be 13 years old, would need to be militarized with the same secure communications and defense mechanisms as the current Air Force One before Trump could fly in it.
What would Qatar's plane mean for the Boeing contract?
The administration would transfer ownership of the Qatari plane to the Trump presidential library foundation shortly before the end of Trump's second term, ABC News reported Sunday. If there are no further delays, at least one of Boeing's Air Force One replacements should be completed by that point.
While Boeing has 'failed miserably' to meet its contractual obligations to the government, national security concerns demand that Boeing's work on Air Force One continues, Hamilton said.