Why Trump Is Seeking A New Plane Of Existence

President Trump is considering using a luxury Boeing 747-8, gifted from Qatar, to serve as a temporary Air Force One, despite bipartisan concerns that it would pose security risks and cost a lot of time and money to militarize the aircraft for official use.

What happened to the usual Air Force One? Boeing, the supplier of presidential aircraft since the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, failed to meet last year’s deadline on a contract signed in 2018 to replace a pair of 35-year-old Boeing models overdue to be jettisoned. The issues Boeing has encountered so far are numerous:

• Delays gaining security clearance for employees, along with turnover at the factory where the work was being done, disrupted the timeline.
• One of Boeing’s suppliers went bankrupt, and the pandemic wreaked havoc on supply chains not long after the contract was signed.

Bottom line: Boeing has lost $2.5 billion on the deal and is responsible for any additional cost overruns (although a $96 billion deal for Qatar Airways to purchase 210 jets coincidentally announced yesterday will soften that blow). Despite a White House official saying that the new jets won’t be ready until 2029, Boeing is now promising to have Trump on new planes in 2027. Meanwhile, he is hoping to fly on the controversial gift from Qatar until they’re ready.—DL