![]() The Air Force in July 2018 signed a $3.9 billion contract with Boeing to design, modify, test, certify and deliver two 747 planes to replace the older aircraft by the end of 2024, which would be the end of a possible second term for Trump. The amendment did not make it into the final fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The House Armed Services Committee, worried that Trump would seek unnecessary and costly changes to the aircraft upgrade, last year sought to require congressional approval for alterations to the aircraft’s paint scheme and interior design. Observers have noted that the new pattern is similar to the former Trump Shuttle planes that the president managed decades ago as a private businessman. Trump in June 2019 shared the first renderings of a redesigned aircraft. Trump since 2018 has said he hopes to change the paint job on the new Air Force Ones, departing from the light blue and white scheme - designed by former President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy - for a new red, white and dark blue color scheme. ![]() The new aircraft - depicted in budget documents with a white top half, blue bottom third and red streak down the middle - “will provide the President, staff, and guests with safe and reliable air transportation at the same level of security and communications capability available in the White House,” according to the budget documents. The Air Force is requesting $800.9 million in fiscal 2021 for the “VC-25B Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program.” It is meant to replace the current Air Force One aircraft with two new, modified Boeing 747-8s, according to the Trump administration’s defense budget request. It is unclear whether the manufacturer will still make the expected 2024 deadline for delivery on the planes, hampered both by the logistics of paint analysis and challenges in finding enough skilled mechanics to complete the work, according to Defense One.The Pentagon on Monday revealed the final paint job plans for the revamped Air Force One presidential aircraft - a red, white and blue style reminiscent of the planes in President Trump’s former airline. This is only the latest twist in a saga over Air Force One that rivals Ulysses in length and tedious detail. In January 2021, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a press conference that “the president has not spent a moment thinking about the color scheme of Air Force One.” Of course, with Trump no longer in office, it will fall to President Joe Biden to make the call about whether or not to uphold his predecessor’s plans for an exterior makeover on the aircraft. “Further analysis concluded darker colors, among other factors, on the underside of the VC-25B aircraft might contribute to temperatures exceeding the current qualification limits of a small number of components on the aircraft.” ![]() “The red, white, and blue paint scheme was one of many possible livery colors proposed for the VC-25B,” Air Force Spokesperson Ann Stefanek told Hyperallergic. The traditional color scheme (via Wikimedia Commons) That decision must be haunting the manufacturer now, as the change of aesthetics might cost Boeing even more than the $1.1 billion they’ve already sunk into the deal. There was also a stipulation within the deal negotiated between Boeing and the United States Air Force that set the contract at a fixed price, meaning that the cost of the redesign would fall on Boeing rather than the US government.
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