The two 747-200s that serve as the American president’s command center in the sky are more than 30 years are old and were meant to be phased out of service years ago.
President Trump has said the United States needs a more “impressive” Air Force One, on par with the sleek jets he has seen in oil-rich nations in the Middle East.
The two 747-200s that serve as Air Force One now — depending on when the president is on board — are more than 30 years old and were meant to be phased out of service years ago.
Efforts over the last 10 years to replace them have met with repeated delays, and the planes aren’t expected to be finished before Mr. Trump leaves office, though perhaps 2027 at the earliest.
So he has said he plans to accept a Boeing 747-8 known as a “palace in the sky” as a donation from the Qatari royal family to the Pentagon, to then be turned over to his presidential library. The plan — which Qatari officials have said is merely under discussion but not finalized — has drawn immense blowback, including from Republicans, as Mr. Trump has defiantly insisted there’s no problem with it.
The aircraft now serving as Air Force One are safe, but they are timeworn, and airplanes are meant to fly only for a certain amount of time before they need to be retired.
“They are just old airplanes — and airplanes have finite lives,” said Frank Kendall, who until early this year served as the Air Force secretary, and who first started working on contracts to replace the two planes during the Obama administration. “There is no question about it that these planes need to be replaced.”