Flying the presidents
Air Force One has been in the news lately after President Trump accepted a gift of a Boeing 747-8 from Qatar worth an estimated $200 million to $400 million.
Air Force One, the president’s official plane, could be the most famous aircraft in the world. Not many planes have movies named for them. Any Air Force plane carrying the president is called Air Force One, though the term is usually applied to the jetliners modified for the purpose. The current aircraft are 35 years old.
In February, President Donald Trump criticized Boeing for its failure to deliver a new Air Force One that was due by 2024. In Trump’s first term, his administration agreed to the contract for the new planes. Delays and miscalculations have pushed the delivery date back and increased the contract cost by billions.
Air Force One has advanced encrypted communications systems as well as defensive countermeasures that include missiles. In the early 1990s Air Force One was secretly outfitted with a directed infrared countermeasures system to defend against missiles. According to some reports, the plane can also deploy flares to throw heat-seeking missiles off course.
Up in the air
The jet from Qatar is much bigger and newer than the current Air Force Ones. It has been called a palace in the sky.
There are many concerns about how a plane from a foreign government could imperil both the president and national security if it is not properly inspected and rebuilt. According to NBC News, a refitting could cost $1 billion and take years to complete.
There has been talk of tapping a Defense Department discretionary fund that’s around $3 billion. But that is only a matter of debate for now.
Big issues
The Qatari 747-8 is more than 18 feet longer than the current Air Force One. “Frankly, it’s much too big,” Trump told reporters during a media session in the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday. Asked if the plane will ever serve as Air Force One, Trump said, “It is being refitted for military standard.”
Pricey ticket
According to Kenneth Walsh, author of “Air Force One: A History of Presidents and Their Planes,” the cost to operate presidential aircraft in the 1950s was roughly $348 per hour. That shot up to around $1,995 per hour during Lyndon Johnson’s administration. In 2021, the Air Force disclosed it cost approximately $177,843 per flight hour to operate its two Air Force One jets.
Personnel and resources
The 89th Air Wing is the Air Force unit that operates Air Force One. Based at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C., it comprises more than 1,400 personnel and handles flights, logistics and communications for the president, vice president, cabinet members, combatant commanders and other senior military and elected leaders.
Marine One
As a security measure, presidential helicopter Marine One often flies in a group of as many as five identical aircraft. One carries the president while the others serve as decoys.
Sources: U.S. Air Force, Whitehouse.gov, Boeing, Military.com, NBC, Popular Science
Photos from the National Archives, Boeing and U.S. Air Force
