Posted on 12/06/2016 6:48:15 AM PST by Olog-hai
Six weeks from taking office, Donald Trump says he wants the government to cut some costs by canceling its order for a new Air Force One, the plane that carries presidents around the globe.
The government has contracted with Boeing to build two or more new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump wouldn’t fly on the new planes unless he pursued and won a second term. But the Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape.
The contract for the planes was to be about $3 billion, but costs have been reported to be rising. Trump tweeted early Tuesday, “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” …
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
The Presidents plane needs four engines to generate the power required for the comms, etc..
There's the problem... 'the government' did the negotiation. Trump should negotiate the price...
Who knows how much Obama has been beating on it.
Deporting wetbacks and building a wall being just one.
I can think of 1000 reasons why POTUS shouldn't be flying to world capitals in an A380...one being simple optics.
Get the new 747's and equip them properly...even if the price tag is a bit stiff.
Not unless you've managed to invent the anti-gravity machine and haven't told anyone.
“Yes, Trump Force One is a 757. It’s much smaller than a 747 and can’t carry the staff a President requires”
Sure it is. The problem is that presidents seem to carry around the press and we taxpayers pay for that. Kick the damned press off the plane!
Obama cancelled the order for the Marine One replacement helicopters when he took office. They awarded it again six years later when the spotlight was off, and it’s probably going to cost more. If Trump cancels Air Force One then I suspect the same will happen.
“the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape.”
I doubt this.
LM is strictly military these days and they don't really have an appropriate platform. Pretty much all cargo planes, fighters or recon aircrafr.
You could probably kit out a pretty sweet C-5 Galaxy that could carry POTUS, his staff and most of their vehicles, including Marine One.
As CNBC reported, following Trump’s remarks, Boeing’s stock fell: “Before Trump’s tweet, Boeing was trading at $152.16 a share. After the tweet, it fell, 1.6 percent to a low of $149.75 a share, according to FactSet. Within the first hour of trading, shares of Boeing were down about 0.5 percent.”
Okay. Sorry about that!
The two must be suffering from supreme jet lag. Remembering how the Clintons walked out of the white house pilfering our merchandise. How will Mo and Bo hide this, ‘his jet’?
Another part of the deal......put fear into those who overprice their “goods”. Trump know how to play hardball having built so many buildings. There are ways to cut down the costs and the red tape, he’s a pro at it.
Well, there was once a passenger version of the C5 on the drawing boards, tentatively called the L500. Sounds like something that could be adapted. Not that Trump needs the oversized press entourage, that is.
“.... but, but, we have a budget, we’d better use it on SOMETHING or we might lose it for next year....”
current-baseline-budgeting at its best.
way to bust it right in the nuggets, Mr. President-Elect!
And we still don’t know everyone who was on the NYC flyby.
+1!!!!
#17 Trump just needs access to Twitter and maybe a cb radio....
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