Trump Wants a New Air Force One So Badly He’s Refurbishing a Qatari Plane

President Trump is done waiting for Boeing.

Frustrated by delays on Boeing’s work to deliver a new Air Force One, Trump has commissioned a smaller defense contractor to ready an interim presidential plane by year’s end.

Boeing will continue plugging away on a pair of Air Force One replacement jets, which have fallen so far behind that Trump might not get to fly on them while in office.

The U.S. government has commissioned L3Harris to overhaul a Boeing 747 formerly used by the Qatari government. The Melbourne, Fla.-based company is tasked with retrofitting the plane with certain specialized systems to transform the luxury aircraft into a presidential jet, some of the people said.

Trump wants to have the plane available for use as early as the fall, some of the people said. He has regularly asked for updates. On April 18, the CEO of Boeing came to the Oval Office to meet with Trump, people familiar with the meeting said.

In his first term, Trump commissioned two new presidential planes to replace a pair of aging jets, which are among the world’s most complex aircraft with communications and defensive systems that serve as a command and control platform for the commander in chief. Boeing won the $3.9 billion contract and at one point was expected to have the planes ready by last year. But it is now years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, after a series of supplier, engineering and manufacturing setbacks.

The interim jet would complement the current pair of aging, heavily modified Boeing 747 jets that are known by the military as VC-25A aircraft and referred to as Air Force One when the president is on board.

Before Trump’s inauguration, White House Military Office and senior Air Force officials considered canceling Boeing’s contract for the new planes, according to people familiar with the matter. White House officials under Trump have also discussed whether they can sue the plane manufacturer, some of the people said.

The U.S. Air Force has long wanted a third jet to serve as a backup when one of the current pair is undergoing maintenance, according to people familiar with the matter.

Dictators love self-glorification.

Is it going to make a fly-by during the Birthday Parade for Dear Leader?

Even he knows better than to get into a Boeing.

This will end in tears.

I'm sure the plane will be loaded with espionage equipment and listening devices that "L3Harris" will not be searching for when they refurbish the thing. MAGA, indeed.

[quote] The U.S. government has commissioned L3Harris to overhaul a Boeing 747 formerly used by the Qatari government. The Melbourne, Fla.-based company is tasked with retrofitting the plane with certain specialized systems to transform the luxury aircraft into a presidential jet, some of the people said.

Hopefully, they'll cut a lot of corners to get the plane ready for him quickly. *crossing fingers*

What's a little missing part, here and there?

Is the plane going to be painted high gloss gold?

I predict a Michael Jackson gold bullion jacket.

I can't predict, but hope a Michael Jackson personal physician like Conrad Murray for both Musk and Trump... They all deserve each other.

I'm pretty sure he's not our first mentally ill president, but still.

Un-fucking-believable.

There goes all the DOGE money.

Boeing can't find its ass with both hands these days.

Total fuckup company.

So ... no wonder.

What does this have to do with lowering grocery prices?

r13, but what Boeing was good at was hiring unqualified, young contract Managers who had no idea how to manage contracts who ended up having Boeing write their reports.

The corruption in government contracts is where all the cash is, and Big Business knows how to write themselves juicy checks.

It's probably a "gift" .