For over 30 years, the blue-and-white Air Force One airplane has been the President both a reliable and visual icon of American power in the air. However, the 747-200Bs from Boeing, which are the basis of the current fleet, i.e., the VC-25A, are old aircraft of the 1990s. It is a very difficult situation to keep the planes operational. The pieces needed for the repairs are very limited, the aircraft with analog cockpits are already outdated, and the maintenance costs keep going up every year. The need to substitute them is no longer a matter of choice but a must-have.
It’s not just a refit to turn a commercial airliner into Air Force One. It’s a recasting of the jet from scratch, turning it into a traveling White House with the ability to withstand war, disaster, or even a nuclear blast. The plane must be shielded from electromagnetic pulses, fitted with advanced defensive systems, and equipped with secure command-and-control networks.
Encrypted communications, hospitals, and the potential to keep the president connected to the chain of command at all times are not negotiable. As industry experts observe, every capability the president has on the ground will also need to be available in the air.
But creating the new Air Force One has proven far more difficult—and expensive—than organizers had hoped. In 2018, Boeing signed a $3.9 billion fixed-price contract in an effort to keep the expense in check and move the project forward quickly. But the gamble went bad.
Engineering problems spread, labor instability stalled progress, and costs with suppliers ballooned. Boeing has since taken more than a billion dollars in losses on each plane, with overall overruns coming in at more than $2 billion. The pandemic only made things more difficult, disrupting supply chains and forcing out timelines.
The workforce itself has proven to be an issue. At San Antonio, where the aircraft are being refurbished, Boeing has struggled to recruit and retain enough skilled mechanics. Project workers must endure “Yankee White” security clearances, a process that has squeezed hiring. Government critics have documented ongoing issues from wiring delays to stress-crack fixes, underscoring the program’s sheer scale. Boeing has shaken up management in response, in hopes of bringing stability to the program.
Out of desperation, a bizarre idea briefly surfaced. One of the opulent Boeing 747-8s, formerly gifted to former President Donald Trump by the Qatari royal family, was proposed as an interim Air Force One. The idea was universally panned.
That would entail gutting the jet down to the bones to make sure it had no clandestine monitoring devices or viruses, and filling it with the same secure systems as the official Air Force. The price tag, experts estimated, would be over a billion dollars, and might take years—longer than if they stick to the original scheme.
Even design decisions have delayed the process. Trump’s favored red, white, and blue color scheme was abandoned after heat tests showed that dark coloring would absorb heat, potentially damaging sensitive electronics. President Joe Biden later approved a new take on the classic Kennedy-era livery, keeping the recognizable blue-and-white color scheme but using a sharper, more contemporary look.
Today, the initial of the new VC-25B aircraft should be delivered in 2027, and then the second one in 2028. Others claim the timeline is unrealistic and that delays will push final delivery into the mid-2030s. Even the Air Force has relaxed some requirements already to speed things up, but the challenges remain significant.
The long and contentious journey to replace Air Force One is not a story about airplanes alone. It is a story about the crossing of politics, security, and the grim realities of defense contracting. Even for the President of the United States, having a new plane built is not as easy as it seems.