Boeing was expected to deliver the plane in 2024 under the original plan.
Boeing is expected to deliver a new Air Force 1 Presidential aircraft in 2027 three years after the schedule negotiated during President Donald Trump’s first term, a top US official said Wednesday.
Darlene Costello, representative acquisition manager for the Air Force, ultimately testified before the House Armed Services Committee on Armed Services whether Boeing’s proposed 2027 delivery date would ultimately depend on whether the White House and the Air Force are willing to compromise on specific design and capabilities requirements.
“We are considering potentially trade-off requirements to reach that date,” Costello said at the hearing.
“I don’t necessarily guarantee that date, but they suggest bringing it to ’27. If we can reach an agreement on a change in the requirements that will lead us to that point, that might be possible.”
In 2018, Trump awarded Boeing a $3.9 billion contract, converting two new 747-8s into next-generation presidential planes, and proposed a red-white and blue paint scheme in place of the iconic baby blue collaring that has been in use since the Kennedy era.
The upgraded aircraft will be equipped with an enhanced communications system, advanced avionics, and self-defense capabilities. They aim to serve as an aerial White House that can withstand extreme security threats, including nuclear attacks.
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Originally, Boeing was expected to deliver the plane in 2024. Since then, the project has suffered from multiple setbacks, including cost overruns, supply chain disruptions and labor constraints.
Currently, the total cost of the program is estimated to exceed $5 billion. The fixed price contract means Boeing will need to absorb excess costs, and the company has already reported a loss of $2 billion on the project.
At a hearing Wednesday, Costello said Boeing submitted its latest integrated streaming schedule last winter. She called it an improvement. This is because previous internal estimates predict that the end date will be extended to 2028 or 2029.
“Our program team is working very closely with the White House to look into all the requirements and how they are being derived into the design and how they are being implemented,” she told lawmakers, saying that the government temporarily lifted some security requirements at the company’s production facilities for more efficient assembly and personnel.
“We’re in some remaining issues that we need to tackle and we want to close it down in the very near future,” she said.
In February, Trump toured a Boeing 747, previously owned by the Qatar Royal Family in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“I’m not happy with Boeing. It’s going to take a long time to do the Air Force,” Trump said earlier that month. “We gave that contract a long time ago as a fixed price contract. We’re not happy with the fact that it takes so long. We might do something else.
“We could probably buy one from another country or one from another,” he added.
The current Air Force, a pair of 747-200s, has been in service since the George HW Bush administration and requires heavy maintenance.
One Air Force delay symbolizes the broader challenges at Boeing, including persistent issues with the 737’s largest line and, more recently, repeated launch delays for Starliner spacecraft due to a variety of technical issues, with two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station for nine months.
