The Next Air Force One: What’s The Latest?

The Next Air Force One: What’s The Latest?

Procuring an aircraft (or set of aircraft) for use by a Head of State is no easy task. Nor should it be – especially when it comes to selecting transport for the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world. With that being said, the upcoming replacement for the US Presidential aircraft has had more than its fair share of ups and downs, with delays and lawsuits plaguing the program’s progress. So what is the latest in this ongoing saga?

A delayed program

For quite some time, it was expected that the first modified Boeing 747-8 would arrive sometime in 2024. Interestingly, The Drive reported in June 2019 that the Trump Administration was hoping to expedite the first delivery, with December 2023 being the target. Of course, as time has passed, even the original 2024 target has started to become increasingly questionable, with speculation that the first delivery won’t happen until 2025.

This is because Boeing’s primary contractor performing the modification work on the jumbo jets was dropped early last year. In April 2021, Boeing sued contractor GDC Technics, for delays and missed deadlines, which it said “resulted in millions of dollars in damages to Boeing and threaten to jeopardize work that is of critical importance to the (US Air Force) and the president of the United States.”

According to a whistleblower, these delays may have resulted from conflicts of interest between GDC’s owners and other projects- an issue that will be discussed in the next section of this article.
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