Trump Mulls Options To Accelerate Delivery Of Air Force One Jets

President Donald Trump appears to be looking at alternative options for the next Air Force One presidential jet, which has seen its delivery date potentially pushed beyond 2029. Along with recently inspecting a Boeing 747-8 once belonging to the ruling family of Qatar, Trump is reportedly looking into ways of speeding the delivery of the two future VC-25B presidential aircraft, including relaxing security clearances for those working on the jets.

The two VC-25Bs are being converted from 747-8i airliners, as you can read more about here. They are due to replace the two existing VC-25As, the first of which entered service in 1990. The VC-25As are based on older 747-200s that are increasingly challenging to support.

One of the current VC-25A Air Force One aircraft is seen landing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 16, 2025, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images Chris Graythen

The 747-8i was the final airliner variant of Boeing’s iconic 747 aircraft and production of the 747 series, as a whole, came to an end for good in December 2022. This means that the new Air Force One presidential jets have to be converted from existing, second-hand airframes, which brings its own set of problems.

The final deal for the new Air Force Ones was negotiated under the previous Trump administration, but the process has been far from smooth since then. Last summer, the first flight of the VC-25B was pushed back to March 2026, a delay of 16 months.

On top of years of delays, Boeing has recorded more than $2 billion in losses on the program, the contract for which was negotiated on a fixed-price basis. Already staggeringly expensive, the new Air Force One program will cost around $4.7 billion for the jets alone, making them the most expensive aircraft ever built. Adding the ancillary costs, including an enormous new hangar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, with a price tag of around $250 million, provides a total program cost of around $5.3 billion. This is taking into account the much-publicized claims by Trump that he personally slashed the cost of the jets, although that is debatable.

According to Breaking Defense, the Air Force was, as of mid-December, “still working to validate the schedule” for delivery. This schedule should be completed this spring. The Air Force will then “conduct a schedule risk assessment to inform establishing revised” dates for key milestones, including delivery dates and operational capability.

One of the Boeing 747-8i jets now in the process of becoming a VC-25B Air Force One aircraft heads to Texas in March 2019 to begin conversion. Matt Hartman/Shorealone Films

Earlier this week, it was revealed that the VC-25Bs may not be delivered until 2029 or even later — this would mean Trump would not get the opportunity to fly in the aircraft before the end of his second term in office.

At one time, the first aircraft had been slated for delivery in December 2024, but Boeing then pushed that back until at least 2027 or 2028.

This latest delay was confirmed to Reuters by a White House official, who cited supply chain issues and changing requirements as the reasons. They said that the delay could actually stretch “years beyond” 2029.

The official pointed to problems in acquiring components for the aircraft since some of the manufacturers have gone out of business. At the same time, they noted that some requirements have been revised based on “evolving potential threats,” according to the report.

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs as he exits Air Force One at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas. Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images Go Nakamura

“Clearly, the president would like the airplane earlier, and so we’re working to see what could be done to accomplish that,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said last month.

Since taking office, it seems that Trump, frustrated by the mounting delays, might have taken a more direct approach, including engaging his close ally Elon Musk.

At the end of last month, Boeing’s Ortberg told CNBC that “we’re working with Elon to see what can we do to pull up the schedule.”

In remarks today, Ortberg added: “Elon Musk is actually helping us a lot in working through the requirements … so that we can move faster and get the president those airplanes delivered.”

More details of some of the options Trump and Musk might be looking at emerged today in a report from The New York Times, which cites five unnamed people with knowledge of the discussions.

Elon Musk holds up an Air Force One stuffed toy as he walks from the presidential helicopter Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington, DC. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images Win McNamee

The most radical option in that report involves “relaxing security clearance standards for some who work on the presidential planes.”

This would mean that Boeing could engage workers for the VC-25B that don’t have the currently required high-level Yankee White security clearance, the same that military personnel would need for interaction with the president or the vice president. Reportedly, officials are only looking at relaxing the clearance for employees not involved in the most secure parts.

Nevertheless, the implications of such a move, were it to happen, would be significant. After all, every aspect of the Air Force One platforms is closely tailored to ensure the highest levels of security, befitting its mission, including as an airborne command center. While it’s claimed that Boeing officials consider that relaxing some security clearance standards is possible, for certain types of workers, anything that could compromise the safety of the president — and the security of the United States — would clearly be unacceptable.

Musk is reportedly also critical of the amount of time built into the program for flight testing. Again, however, any move that could compromise the safety requirements for Air Force One is hardly likely to be palatable, especially when the net gain might only be getting it into service several months earlier.

A rendering of a VC-25B with the livery President Trump selected during his first term in office. Boeing

Reportedly, Musk visited the Boeing facility in San Antonio, Texas, last December, intending to find ways to accelerate the production of the VC-25Bs.

“The idea was that we could just strip out a lot of the military stuff, just give the president a good-looking new airplane to fly in with commercial capabilities and maybe some minimal military upgrades,” an unnamed former Pentagon official told The New York Times.

While that would certainly be feasible, the end result would most likely not fit the Air Force One requirements, including playing its part in the critical ‘continuity of government’ mission — which you can read about in-depth here — and operating in the most demanding situations, including a nuclear apocalypse. As well as being hardened against the effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP), it’s also worth bearing in mind that the VC-25s are equipped with extremely elaborate communications systems and the most capable single self-defense suite against man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), as well as some other threats, found anywhere on the planet.

The article also states that consideration is being given to acquiring another airframe, which would be refitted at short notice and then used as an interim transport until the VC-25Bs are ready.

This would be the 747-8 that Trump toured at Palm Beach International, Florida, on Saturday. This 12-year-old aircraft previously belonged to the ruling family of Qatar but was subsequently refurbished and is now privately owned. You can read all about it in this previous in-depth piece.

The White House said that Trump wanted to look at the ex-Qatari jet to see “how everything was configured,” in relation to the new VC-25Bs, although The New York Times suggests that the president might actually want the Air Force to buy it.

If that were the case, it is extremely questionable whether the ex-Qatari 747-8 would offer anything like a practical solution — especially the reported aspiration to have the jet retrofitted for the Air Force service “within a year’s time.” After all, even for interim service, the aircraft would still require extensive conversion work followed by certification, and it’s far from clear how all this could be achieved in such a short timeframe — let alone, why it would be significantly easier than is the case with the VC-25Bs. Were the ex-Qatari 747-8 somehow rushed into service in a more basic configuration that would be achieved quicker, it would leave the Air Force with a non-standard presidential fleet once the VC-25Bs finally arrive.

It may also be the case that Trump’s visit to the ex-Qatari jet was more about providing Boeing with a very obvious signal that the high-stakes Air Force One program is very much in his sights.

Another proposition could involve canceling Boeing’s Air Force One contract altogether and handing the work over to another contractor. The most obvious would be Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), which has been contracted to deliver a fleet of highly specialized Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) aircraft. These will replace the Air Force’s aging 747-200-based E-4B Nightwatch ‘doomsday planes.’ However, while Trump has been repeatedly critical of Boeing’s business practice in the past, such a radical move at this stage would likely also not get the new Air Force Ones into service any quicker.

Whatever happens next, Boeing’s VC-25B effort has become something of a lesson in how not to run an Air Force acquisition program.

Already, there have been issues with security clearance lapses for workers involved in the program and the discovery of empty liquor bottles in one of the airframes. There have also been tiny cracks discovered in the aircraft’s structures, requiring repairs.

A rendering of a VC-25B in a paint scheme more in line with the iconic ones on the existing VC-25A Air Force Ones. President Joe Biden reversed the decision made by his predecessor, Donald Trump, during his first term in office, which would have seen the aircraft wear an entirely new red, white, and blue livery. Depending on the delivery timeline, that would appear to be now back on the table. U.S. Air Force

One of the biggest stories surrounding the new Air Force One jets is their paint scheme. Trump wants to get rid of the classic design that is steeped in Kennedy-era history and replace it with his own red, white and blue look. It’s possible that if the jets get pushed nearly into 2030, he will not get to make this decision. It’s only the delays in the program that put the Air Force One paint job question back in his lap after being elected to his second term.

A model of the proposed paint scheme of the next generation of Air Force One is on display during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office of the White House June 20, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Alex Wong

Whether it’s discussions about the colors of their livery, or much more dramatic changes to the aircraft and their capabilities, the new Air Force One program has never been far from controversy. However, it’s already clear that, under the Trump administration, these high-profile aircraft will be under even closer scrutiny.

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