With President-elect Donald Trump swearing-in on Monday as the next President of the United States, the “Air Force One” title will be upon any Air Force aircraft that he travels in.
What Happened: The Air Force One technically refers to any Air Force aircraft with the U.S. President on board. However, it is often used to refer to two primary presidential aircraft manufactured by Boeing Co. BA called VC-25A, a modified variant of the Boeing 747-200 airliner.
The U.S. Air Force is looking forward to replacing the current primary presidential aircraft with VC-25B, based on the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft given the VC-25A is now old after being delivered in 1990 under the George HW Bush administration.
Trump in 2019 had proposed changing the colors of Air Force One to red, white, and blue but the Biden administration abandoned the design in favor of the colors of the aircraft it would replace.
Inside Current Air Force One: The current Air Force One aircraft has a longer range than the ordinary 747 aircraft and sports 4000 square feet of interior floor space. Dubbed the “flying Oval Office,” it has a conference room, quarters for the president and the first lady, an office area for senior staff members, and another office that converts into a medical facility when necessary.
It further has two galleys that can provide 100 meals in one sitting in addition to multi-frequency radios for air-to-air, air-to-ground, and satellite communications.
According to Boeing, the key differences between the VC-25 aircraft and the Boeing 747 are the electronic and communications equipment and state-of-the-art navigation in the former.
Air Force One is maintained and operated by the Presidential Airlift Group, part of the White House Military Office.
Boeing’s Long-Drawn Crisis: Boeing has been faced with one crisis after the other over the past few years, starting in late 2018 when a Boeing aircraft went down in the sea off the coast of Indonesia.
In April 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is facing factory problems as it seeks to modify the aircraft meant to serve as Air Force One in the future. The company attempted to place one of the two jets onto jacks and risked damaging it, the report said.
In January 2024, a door panel flew off an Alaska Airlines plane manufactured by Boeing, forcing an emergency landing and creating further safety concerns. The Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on air travel in 2020 did not help the company's financial constraints.
In March 2024, Biden laughed about Boeing aircraft and said that he does not sit by the door of the Air Force One aircraft. Biden later clarified that he was only kidding.
President-elect Donald Trump‘s pick to lead the Department of Transportation Sean Duffy said earlier this month Boeing needs "tough love" as it grapples with recent safety failures
"We have to make sure they are implementing their safety plan," Duffy said, emphasizing his commitment to working with the Federal Aviation Administration to restore global confidence in the aircraft manufacturer.
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