Donald Trump has made his first flight on this refurbished 747-8i, a parting gift from Qatar. In a sense, he is inaugurating a bridge aircraft to see us through to when Boeing can put a permanent fleet in place. For now, it is there to make up for the fact that the old VC-25As are in for long stretches of maintenance.
Why the bridge jet matters
According to the US Air Force, you have to be able to count on an airlift for the President, and this plane will take some of the load off the current VC-25A fleet. What we saw with the first flight is the beginning of a steady hand for important travel while we put in for the long-term solution with the VC-25B.
‘We are proud to deliver the VC-25B Bridge aircraft to the President,’ said Gen Ken Wilsbach, the service’s chief of staff. They want to stress continuity; with the older jets, the kind of heavy work they need was only going to lead to more hiccups in the schedule.
Qatar’s gift and a new look
Trump will tell you he put in for the plane with the Emir of Qatar last year. He had been at odds with the pace of Boeing’s replacement plan and how other countries were flying in newer hardware. So the 747-8i was given to us, put in order and added to the roster after a few shakedown flights.
You’ll notice a different livery on this one: red, white and navy. It’s a departure from the robin’s egg blue that has been on presidential planes for close to 40 years, all the way back to George H W Bush. There is a wavy flag on the tail, much like what Trump showed off at Joint Base Andrews not long ago.
‘These are the new colours red, white, and blue. We liked the baby blue, but it was time for a change… I like the colour of the American flag,’ he put it on June 20. He had a good look around the inside of the jet before it was given the OK to go to work.
Security, cost and certification
The Air Force is clear that if it is to be called Air Force One, it has to pass some hard-nosed security tests. The Qatari plane was worked on in a very methodical way to make sure those capabilities were front and centre. And for what it is worth, the officials say the bill for those changes won’t top $400 million.
Trump made a point of it as he was getting on at Joint Base Andrews. ‘They made it appropriate for a president. That means security and all of the different bells and whistles. They put on very complex stuff, but it’s really quite something.’
First mission and what comes next
His first ride on the new jet was a Wednesday trip up to North Dakota to open the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. The White House says his return from the G7 in France on Thursday will be the last we see of the old Air Force One for a while.
Down the road, Trump has the 747-8i in mind for a flyover at the National Mall for the 4th of July, when we are in on our 250th. He also plans to be on it for the NATO summit in Turkey next month.
Some of the big moves on the docket:
– A run over the National Mall on July 4
– Heading to Turkey for the NATO gathering
– Filling in for any high-priority business
– Holding the fort until the 2028 delivery window
What the President said on board
He sees it as about time. ‘Our Air Force One was 35, 36 years old,’ Trump said. To him, the 747-8i is the modern fix for a fleet that has seen better days and is what the U.S. ought to have for moving the President around.
Then he had some good words for the machine itself. ‘For me, this is the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built to be honest with you, I’m excited about the first flight.’ You could tell he was in a mood to get behind the new equipment.
The strategic backdrop
This is all happening with the VC-25B programme still behind where we would like it to be. Putting a bridge in the field is the Air Force’s way of being sure the President can get where he needs to while the rest of the story with Boeing is written.
It’s a no-brainer for the White House: less risk of a cancelled trip because of some maintenance issue and more room to move. As for the Pentagon and Boeing, it gives them the space to finish the job on the VC-25B without anyone having to worry about the airlift side of things.
