"Instead, you lay out all the reasons it's functionally impossible." "No one tells the President he can't do something," the official said. official told CNN, it's "nearly functionally impossible" for him to continue using it as the president. It served him well enough during the 2016 campaign, but as a U.S. Yes, President-Elect Trump already has a private jet, a Boeing 757. Option 3: Ground expensive older planes in favor of Trump's private jet Boeing's future probably looks more like the two-engine 737 MAX than the giant 747-8, and size is crucial for Air Force One, given the number of people it routinely has to carry. The air travel economy is trending towards nonstop flights and smaller jets. So, new 747-8s may be a limited-time offer.Īnd there's not much reason to believe something better will come along. Worse yet, Boeing is scaling down its production of the 747 even with the Air Force One deal in place, and preparing to end production of new 747 jets altogether in the face of declining demand. Complications of using a foreign-made plane aside, Airbus expressed disinterest in making a bid. The only other plane that can live up to the Air Force's high requirements-which include a minimum of four engines and capability for in-air refueling, among a litany of other features-is the French-made Airbus A380. The 747-8 is the only plane that "meets the necessary critically important capabilities." As the Air Force put it, it's the only U.S.-made plane "that when fully missionized meets the necessary critically important capabilities." That's because Boeing's 747-8 is effectively the only option that fits the bill. When the Air Force chose Boeing to build the replacement planes for Air Force One back in January of 2015, there was no competition. If Air Force One needs to be replaced-and quickly-is there a better option than the current Boeing project? Not really. Option 2: Attempt to find a better, cheaper replacement The old planes will have to be replaced sooner or later, and "later" offers no practical benefits. You turn on those engines, I can tell you, it's a lot of money." "Now Air Force One is a very old Boeing 747. It's unlikely this fact is lost on Trump, who said the following at rally in North Carolina this past July: That's already an additional six years of high-expense operation. Now, the replacement Boeing 747-8s are expected to enter service by 2023 at the earliest. "There is a concern in some quarters within the Air Force that they really need the replacement much sooner," Hagin said back in '09. Replacement craft were initially planned for 2017, and there was fear that even that was not soon enough. That problem hasn't gotten any better in the seven years since, and there is no reason to believe the problem won't get worse. " few 747-200s still flying today are in freighter service or operating in small overseas airlines." Parts that are no longer in active production need to be salvaged or custom made, meaning repairs take a long time, are extremely expensive, or both. Bush, told Popular Mechanics back in 2009. "Spare parts are becoming difficult to obtain," Joe Hagin, former deputy chief of staff to George W. "Spare parts are becoming difficult to obtain" The problem with the aging jets is simpler than that: it's the keeping-them-up-in-the-air technology. Over the years, the two planes have been upgraded repeatedly to keep up with the times and to incorporate the latest communication and defense technology. The 747-200B was launched in 1971, but the pair currently serving the POTUS was first flown in 1987, four years before Boeing stopped production on the model altogether. Both are Boeing VC-25s-a specially outfitted version of the Boeing 747-200B. "Air Force One" is merely a callsign for the plane the president is currently on, but two airplanes take on this name most frequently. Option 1: Continue flying the current planes indefinitely So halting the current project because it's too expensive really only makes sense if a cheaper, more practical solution exists. Now set those numbers aside for a second, because here's the other thing: The President's plane does need to be replaced. The Government Accountability Office, meanwhile, has estimated a total cost of $3.21 billion. As Boeing has pointed out in a statement, the company is only under contract for $170 million currently, and the Air Force has earmarked $1.65 billion for the project. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play
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