Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said Tuesday that the company will lower costs on the Air Force One replacement “simplying requirements” and using “commercial practices” after meeting with President-elect Trump.
“We talked about a couple of topics. We discussed Air Force One, we discussed fighter aircraft, we made some great progress on simplifying requirements for Air Force One, streamlining the process, streamlining certification by using commercial practices,” he said. “All of that is gonna provide a better airplane at a lower cost.”
After spending about an hour upstairs in Trump Tower, Muilenburg told reporters that he was “pleased with the progress” to control costs of building two new Air Force One planes.
Muilenburg added he was “very encouraged” with his meeting and “we’re on the same page to provide the best capability at the lowest cost.”
Trump has gone after Boeing on Twitter over the cost of building two new Air Force One 747-8 replacement aircraft, which could cost as much as $4 billion when factoring in development costs.
Muilenburg first met with Trump in December over the acquisition program and gave the incoming president his “personal commitment” that the program would be completed for less than $4 billion.
Asked about Trump’s use of Twitter to criticize the Defense Department’s acquisition programs 140 characters at a time, Muilenburg said he thought Trump was doing a “great job” engaging with industry.
Trump also announced on Twitter that he had asked Boeing to price out a version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet that is comparable to the F-35 from Lockheed Martin, but service leaders of both the Navy and Air Force have said the there is no comparison between the capabilities of two planes.
The president-elect met with Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin, on Friday to discuss costs of the F-35.
