The Trump administration on Wednesday said it struck multibillion dollar deal with Boeing to build two new Air Force One planes for the executive branch by 2024, marking the first time in more than three decades that the president’s air fleet has been upgraded.
“The contract sets the total price for the two completed ‘Air Force One’ replacement aircraft at $3.9 billion, saving the taxpayers over $1.4 billion from the initially proposed $5.3 billion cost-plus contract,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
“President Donald J. Trump has emphasized the need to minimize the cost of replacing the two existing Air Force One aircraft.,” Sanders added. “Yesterday’s action meets that objective and reflects the President’s commitment to our military and to protecting taxpayer dollars.”
Construction of the new 747-8 planes is expected to occur in San Antonio, the Pentagon said in a separate statement on Wednesday, projecting a completion date sometime in 2024.
The announcement comes just days after Trump told CBS News in an interview that he has directed Boeing to paint the presidential jets red, white, and blue, versus the iconic robin’s egg-blue that he dubbed the “Jackie Kennedy color.” The former first lady, along with President John F. Kennedy, selected the most recent color scheme in the 1960s.
“It’s going to be the top of the line, the top in the world,’’ Trump told CBS. “And it’s going be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate.”
