Boeing’s new Air Force One jetliner that will eventually be tasked with transporting the U.S. president will be delayed until 2029 or later, FOX Business has learned.
A Trump administration official confirmed to FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence that the next-generation Air Force One jet is delayed due to issues that primary contractor Boeing has attributed to global supply chains and changing project requirements.
“It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for such a long time,” White House communications director Steven Cheung told FOX Business.” President Trump is working on identifying ways to speed up the delivery of a new place, which has been needed for a while.”
BOEING ‘FIGHTING THROUGH CHALLENGES’ THAT HAVE DELAYED NEW AIR FORCE ONE PLANES
FOX Business reached out to Boeing for comment.
The contract for the new Air Force One was initially awarded to Boeing in 2018, when it received a $3.9 billion contract to build two new 747-8 aircraft for use as Air Force One that were to be delivered by December 2024, but subsequent delays led to that being pushed back to 2027 or 2028, with the new delay pushing that back further.
The Boeing 747-8s that will eventually serve as Air Force One are designed to be an airborne White House that can fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.
BIDEN STICKS WITH KENNEDY-ERA COLOR SCHEME FOR NEXT AIR FORCE ONE AFTER SCRAPPING TRUMP’S DESIGN
Ted Colbert, then-head of Boeing Defense, Space & Security who has since left the company, said in July that Boeing was dealing with supply chain, inflation, workforce and other challenges in building the airplanes, which are heavily modified versions of 747 airliners. Boeing has lost more than $2 billion on the program amid the delays.
“Our team is fighting through a very, very challenging program – two very complex airplanes,” Colbert said at the time. “We’ve done a ton of investment in our workforce and training, efficiency, work on the factory floor.”
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in 2022 that the Air Force One program risked further delay because of a tight labor market for mechanics, lower-than-expected security clearance rates and Boeing’s need to switch to an alternative supplier for some interior work.
BOEING PERSONNEL WORKING ON AIR FORCE ONE PLANES HAD LAPSED SECURITY CLEARANCES
In 2023, the Biden administration chose to modify, but continue with, an Air Force One paint scheme that resembles the current white with two shades of blue. The design dates back to the Kennedy administration and the Biden move reversed a decision made by President Trump during his first term to switch to a red, white and blue scheme.
Boeing and the Department of Defense also investigated a 2023 security clearance lapse that resulted in hundreds of Boeing employees working on the secretive Air Force One planes with expired credentials for months or years before they were temporarily suspended from accessing work areas once the documentation issue was discovered.
The lapsed “Yankee White” security clearances impacted about 250 employees and once it was discovered, the Air Force and Boeing worked to reinstate those clearances. Nearly all regained their current, valid Top Secret clearances and no workers lost their clearances. Boeing said at the time the issue had no impact on the timeline for the new AIr Force One jets.
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