The most recognizable plane in the world is getting an upgrade — and it's lost Boeing more than $2 billion so far.
While Air Force One is just a callsign for any Air Force carrying the US president, the term is often used to refer to the pair of blue and white Boeing 747s with "United States of America" emblazoned on the side.
From Hollywood to cable news, the aircraft known as Air Force One have been made famous through frequent appearances when accompanying presidents on most of their trips from Washington DC.
The modified Boeing 747s that fly the commander-in-chief — known in the Air Force as VC-25As — are on their way out after serving six presidents over three decades.
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It's time for the flying White House to enter the new jet age with a next-generation aircraft to fly the president — the Boeing 747-8i.
Designated as the VC-25B, the new jets will be larger and more efficient than their predecessors. But bigger, in this case, doesn't necessarily mean better as the new Air Force One will actually lack some key features compared to their predecessors.
Here's what we know about the highly-confidential Air Force One program.
The entire program will cost over $5 billion
Despite a concerted effort by the Air Force and Donald Trump's administration, the total program is slated to cost $5.3 billion, according to DefenseOne. That price includes the aircraft — about $800 million if purchased new, which they weren't — as well as the interior completion, special modifications, and a new hangar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
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Trump got the bill down from $4.4 billion to $3.9 billion, DefenseOne also reported, but that didn't include everything.
Boeing is keeping the exact cost of the jets a closely guarded secret, according to DefenseOne. The last program to replace the Air Force One aircraft, which began under President Ronald Reagan and was completed during the George H.W. Bush administration, only cost $660 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The two 747s were supposed to go to a bankrupt Russian airline
Boeing won't be building the new Air Force Ones from scratch and in fact, the Air Force will technically be buying the aircraft secondhand. As part of the cost-saving efforts, Boeing sold the government two 747-8i aircraft that were intended for a now-defunct Russian airline, Transaero, a Boeing spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
"We got a really good deal," former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told Bloomberg in an interview.
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The jets — which were selling for $390 million at the time of the deal, according to DefenseOne — were stored in California awaiting new owners. They were later flown to Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, according to The Drive.
Boeing presented four options to cut costs
The replacement program began under President Barack Obama but his successor would have the most say in the acquisition process. In 2016, a newly-elected Trump publicly complained about the high cost of the replacement program, which he said was over $4 billion.
"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion," Trump said in a 2016 tweet. "Cancel order!"
Then-Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg met with Trump at Mar-a-Largo in Palm Beach, Florida to discuss potential alternatives to lower the cost of the program with four options, according to DefenseOne.
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A $4.2 billion alternative was to purchase two new 747-8i jets but only install the presidential configuration on one and a standard VIP interior on the other, while a $3.88 billion option involved only buying one new 747-8i and keeping one of the existing 747s.
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Less expensive alternatives also included buying two new 747-8i aircraft but eliminating some of the Air Force's requirements or just installing VIP interiors instead of the presidential configuration demanded by the Air Force. All proposals were flatly rejected by the service branch, according to DefenseOne.
Biden canceled Trump's proposed paint job
Air Force One is the most recognizable plane in the world with its blue and white livery, but Trump wanted to change its color scheme. He proposed a new design that featured more red, white, and blue — and he even kept a model of the jet with the new design in the Oval Office.
But the Biden administration chose to cancel the plans after a review suggested that the new paint job would increase costs even further.
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According to the US Air Force's website, "a thermal study later concluded the dark blue in the design would require additional Federal Aviation Administration qualification testing for several commercial components due to the added heat in certain environments."
The owner's manual alone is costing $84 million
The Air Force announced in April 2020 that Boeing will develop the owner's manual for the new VC-25B aircraft and the service branch is paying $84 million for it, DefenseOne reported.
The manual will reportedly run to 100,000 pages and won't even be ready at the time of the jet's estimated delivery to the Air Force, with DefenseOne reporting that it will arrive in January 2025.
The $84 million is included in the $5.3 billion cost.
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The planes will last for around three decades
Like most aircraft, the new planes will serve for 20 to 30 years, according to DefenseOne. The VC-25A aircraft are scheduled to be replaced just over three decades from their first flights with Bush in 1990 and 1991.
The timing is in line with when most Jumbo jets will be retired from service. Boeing produced its last 747, for Atlas Air, in December 2022.
That means a future flying White House could be a smaller jet like the Boeing 777.
Non-stop to almost anywhere, but no in-flight refueling
The new VC-25Bs will have a range of 5,900 nautical miles, which is both less than some private jets from Gulfstream and Bombardier and the current Air Force One's range of unlimited miles. VC-25As have the capability of air-to-air refueling that allows them to fly for as long as the president desires while receiving top offs from airborne fuel tankers.
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It's an impressive capability that can keep the president flying should there be no place to land, like in the event of war. But the feature has never been used, Air Force sources told DefenseOne, except in the movie "Air Force One."
The 5,900-nautical mile range, however, should allow the president to fly non-stop from Washington to cities such as Tokyo, Riyadh, and Tel Aviv.
The Boeing 747s are bigger but more efficient
One of the staples of the Boeing 747-8i is its next-generation General Electric engines that are more fuel-efficient. Flying the new aircraft will save the Air Force $1.9 billion, according to DefenseOne, despite the larger square footage that the 747-8i provides.
Despite the larger size, however, the VC-25Bs will have the same passenger capacity of 71 passengers, according to The Drive. That means more room for non-passenger spaces like the president's office, communications bay, medical suite, or private bedroom.
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Boeing has lost more than $2 billion on the project
Boeing's latest quarterly results showed it had lost another $482 million on building the new planes, Insider previously reported.
The company said the losses were due to higher-than-estimated manufacturing costs, engineering changes, labor instability, and negotiations with suppliers. It takes its total losses on the new Air Force One planes to more than $2 billion.
