The Story Behind The New Air Force One

This year marks the 20th anniversary of efforts to field a new generation USAF VC-25, otherwise known as Air Force One, the militarized Boeing 747 dedicated to presidential transport. It’s not a happy one. Miscalculations, global events, politics, foreign intrigues, and twists worthy of a soap opera have brought a Porcelain celebration measured in years of delay and billions in losses—with the two guests of honor absent amid shocking news of another airplane.

When delivered in 1990, the two VC-25As—modified 747-200s—that currently share Air Force One duties had an estimated service life of about 30 years each. In 2006, the White House tasked the Defense Department with investigating replacements.

Boeing, for its part, was focused internally on retaining the contract, which became a “top priority.” The United States Air Force had also been eyeing the Airbus A380 —which first flew in 2007—as an option. 

Air Force One cockpit.

The official search began in 2009 with an Air Force Sources Sought Notice for three Air Force One replacements. Airbus parent EADS promptly opted out, citing economic factors, leaving Boeing as the sole contender. But the still-evolving modern systems’ requirements, which now included capability for autonomous ground operations, presented new and significant challenges.

The project slowly advanced amid Great Recession budget cuts and Pentagon acquisition reforms, while the planned replacement fleet shrank from three jets to two. 

The pace accelerated in 2014 with approval of the Capability Development Document, or program performance requirements, and the 747-8i Intercontinental was named VC-25B platform the following year. The Air Force planned to buy two green airframes  (approximately $350 to $400 million each) for the conversions, as the VC-25As had been built, with the proviso that the undetermined program costs would be “fair and reasonable.”

2016 marked another turning point. Engineering and manufacturing development was approved (Milestone B), and a trio of contracts for preliminary design, and risk and cost reduction studies were set. Then in December, minutes after the media reported Boeing’s CEO voiced concerns about the impact Donald Trump’s proposed protectionist trade policy would have on exports, the President-elect posted a tweet calling VC-25B costs, “…out of control, more than $4 billion,” adding, “Cancel Order!”

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In early 2018, Trump reached a firm fixed-price $3.9 billion agreement for the jets, with first delivery slated for December 2024. Meanwhile, the Air Force bought from Boeing two unused 747-8s built for Transaero, a Russian airline that had gone bankrupt before delivery, for about $390 million. Though half the price of purpose-built green airframes, converting the commercially outfitted jets would ultimately add costs and delays.

Complex development programs like Air Force One’s are typically contracted on a cost-plus basis because of their unknown risks. A firm-fixed-price deal shields taxpayers from unanticipated costs (Boeing is out about $2.5 billion on the program to date), but corporate efforts to minimize losses on red-ink projects can negatively affect timelines and quality. 

Then came the Boeing 737 Max disasters. On the date of the second fatal crash—March 10, 2019—the first of the two VC-25B airframes arrived at Boeing’s Port San Antonio, Texas MRO for conversion, where modifications began in February 2020. Two weeks later, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.

In April that year, Boeing affirmed that, despite experiencing COVID-related disruptions, the VC-25B’s December 2024 delivery remained on track, as it was when Joe Biden assumed the Presidency in 2021. But by his term’s end in 2025, after four major timeline revisions (factors included technical staffing and security clearance issues; supply chain instability; and production mishaps and supplier  performance), delivery dates had been pushed to 2027 and 2028.

Though standard Pentagon channels managed the program during his years as President, Joe did leave a small stamp on VC-25B. Trump, in his first term, wanted to replace Air Force One’s Kennedy era two-tone blue over white and silver livery with a red, white, and dark blue scheme. An Air Force study found the colors and paint could create heating issues for onboard equipment and add to costs and delays, and in 2023 Biden selected a modernized version of the aircraft’s traditional colors for the new Air Force One.

Following the 2024 Presidential election, the incoming Trump administration immediately began pushing Boeing to accelerate VC-25B delivery, even enlisting Elon Musk in the (unsuccessful) effort. Back in office, last February Trump made an unscheduled tour of a private 747-8 in West Palm Beach, Florida, identified by the media as a Qatari-owned jet outfitted for the royal family. Some misinterpreted the inspection as simply a goad to Boeing, rather than the near-culmination that it was of a search for interim lift that began before the inauguration. 

During the transition of administrations, the Defense Department prepared to buy or lease an aircraft to serve the President in place of the delayed VC-25Bs. Boeing had identified all suitable executive-outfitted 747-8s on the market—reportedly eight in total—and Qatar’s was among them. It was flown to the U.S. at the administration’s request, but after the inspection the acquisition plans shifted from purchase to donation, reportedly catching both the Air Force and Qatar by surprise. Widely said to be worth $400 million, industry sources say its market value was closer to $150 million to $180 million.

Little was heard about the Qatari jet until May 2025, when news of its donation—and of plans to transfer the aircraft to Trump’s Presidential Library following his term—was reported.

The proposal provoked immediate backlash, in part due to the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which forbids U.S. officials from accepting benefits from foreign powers without Congressional approval. But then Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former lobbyist for Qatar, had already approved a DOJ memorandum determining the legality of the donation and its planned transfer to Trump’s library foundation. (The memo, subject of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, hasn’t been made public, nor has documentation of U.S. acceptance of the aircraft.) 

Florida-based aerospace and defense firm L-3Harris Technologies is reportedly performing the conversion. The jet was ferried to Waco-James Connell Airport (KCNW) in Texas, site of a major L3 MRO, in August. The Air Force puts the conversion cost at about $400 million, paid with funds redirected from the LG-35 Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, and expects delivery in the third quarter. 

Contract and modification details are classified due to an information blackout encompassing numerous categories of information routinely disclosed on similar classified projects, including program name, mission requirements, the aircraft’s type designation, and the contractor’s identity. The Air Force terms it a “bridge aircraft” and “executive air transport.”

The converted 747 will bear the Air Force One call sign when the President is onboard, as does any USAF aircraft, but will not be a USAF VC-25B because it falls short of baseline requirements on five critical systems: EMP hardening; power; security; survivability; NC3 (nuclear command, control, and communications); and interior layout. But it will display a new Presidential livery, announced in February: A modified version of Trump’s first proposal, with gold added to the palette.

Meanwhile Boeing and the government are now in agreement that the first VC-25B will be delivered in mid-2028. Pop the cork at your discretion.

Ed: Business Jet Traveler submitted questions about Presidential lift aircraft to the USAF; receipt was acknowledged but no answers or response to subsequent email were provided.