AIR FORCE ONE AS IT IS NOW
Posted on 12/06/2016 7:22:37 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Is this the Art of the Deal coming into play, or a stand against gouging by defense contractors? Despite insisting on the latest in luxury as a private citizen, Donald Trump seems to be saying no to a new fleet of presidential aircraft. He tweeted earlier today that the contract for replacing Air Force One should be canceled due to spiraling costs:
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016
Over the past few months, the Pentagon approved contracts that allowed Boeing to prepare to convert two of its 747-8s into replacements for the current pair of aging 747s that serve as Air Force One. The three contracts come to $169 million, a down payment on an expenditure that the Pentagon estimates will have a total cost of $1.65 billion. The Air Force announced that plan almost two years ago, and the Air Force promised to “use proven technologies and commercially certified equipment” to keep costs under control. That’s for two planes, not one, as the president always travels with both as a precautionary measure.
A search of news does not produce any links about costs doubling on the project. It’s certainly possible that it might be happening; the request for bid went out to Boeing in September, so perhaps the proposal came back with a surprisingly high bottom line. If so, it’s being kept so quiet that even industry outlets have missed it. Boeing already has a limited market for the 747-8 as it is, thanks to competition from Airbus and a preference for two-engine aircraft for most routes. In January, Boeing announced a cutback in production of the 747-8 due to lower demand. Does it make much sense that Boeing would make their product look even less commercially useful by blowing up a high-profile contract? For some perspective on that question, check out the hit that Boeing took after Trump’s tweet, losing 1% in premarket trade.
Besides, canceling the order doesn’t make much sense in practical or political terms. The current pair of 747s fulfilling this mission are almost 30 years old and are nearing the end of their planned lifespan as AF1s. Replacements have to be found soon, and Boeing already has the process underway. The only other four-engine airframe option would be the Airbus 380, which would mean dumping a product made in the USA to, um … outsource it overseas. That’s not exactly Making America Great Again, is it?
Either this is a stream-of-consciousness tweet that means nothing, or Trump wants to lean on Boeing publicly to wring a better deal out of them. As a defense contractor, they depend on government contracts for survival, and they had to have noticed what happened last week with United Technologies and its Carrier subsidiary. Nice contracts ya got there, pal …
RE: But what about President Pence...
I got this from a pilot in the 89th Military Airlift Wing at Andrews:
A little-known fact is that the USAF has three reserved calls signs, two of which have been mentioned in this article: Air Force One and Air Force Two. These flights get special unrestricted flight clearance.
For example, they will never be told to hold. They will never have a delay waiting to take off. They will never be vectored to avoid other traffic-—other traffic is vectored to avoid them. Essentially, they operate at all times as any other aircraft would be treated if it declared an emergency-—except there’s no such thing as an emergency takeoff! Controllers know these call signs and are required to give the very top priority handling.
The third call sign is Executive One Foxtrot. Think about the “One” and think about “Foxtrot” standing for “F,” which is the first letter in family and now you see that it’s used when any member of the First Family is on board.
They used this call sign to carry First Ladies Rosalyn Carter and Betty Ford, as well as just the Ford children traveling on their own. It gets the same special handling by controllers.
ALSO, Beyond the fact that “Air Force One” is a designation used only for the plane carrying the president, the vice-president is actually important enough to rate his own call sign— the incredibly unimaginative “Air Force Two” — in addition to his own plane, a Boeing C-32.
As you would imagine, THE VICE-PRESIDENT ALMOST NEVER SETS FOOT ON AIR FORCE ONE IN ANY SENSE.
This is primarily a matter of unofficial policy (and common sense) as the VP is almost never on the same flight as the president for continuity-of-government issues. At the same time, the VP is rarely able to make use of either of the VC-25As that are colloquially considered to be “Air Force One” since the president is often using one while the other one is either working in a support role or undergoing maintenance.
I’d like to hear Trump say the same thing for 0’s planned renovation of the Oval Office.
No tellin’ what is going to be installed and what it will look like or the cost.
Make them travel in a tank transporter No heat either.
We need to hammer them in every conceivable way until they are a bloody slime oozing down a sewer hole, and therefore no longer a threat to our election process.
This is the first president in living memory who actually knows the real cost of every item in big projects.
For the first time, contractors aren't going to be able to snow him - or the taxpayer.
Watch and learn.
The era of padding government budgets is OVER.
(For 8 years.)
The real story here is that Trump brings a business approach to Washington. Waste, excessive costs, inefficiency and poor results will not be tolerated.
“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.”
4 Billion does seem excessive .... Trump is more than likely positioning to negotiate the same project and for a lower cost.
Milk the taxpayers we much, Boeing?
Yeah, yeah. Let's hear all the excuses about how technologically advanced the plane must be and how that takes extra time and all the usual crud people come up with to explain away Union pickpocketry.
Most of that 4 billion dollars will go straight into Union coffers.
The current habit of having the mainslime media flying in a very fancy 747 is insane! The SAM squadron needs to pull two or three clapped out C-130’s from the boneyard -[Davis Monthan for you Rio Linda types]- and use them to haul the WH press pool around. And no fricking airline seats either. Let the slimers ride in bucket seats with box lunches provided by Sheriff Joe. Yes indeed, one ride C-130 ride from Andrews to LAX - eleven or twelve hours, and all of those vermin will fly commercial gladly, on their own dime.
He is leveraging the new AF1 to put Boeing on notice, don't sell your soul and open up a plant in China and give away the farm.
I am not tired of winning!
A $13 billion U.S. aircraft carrier is about to hit the open seas. It’s the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the most expensive and most advanced warship ever built.
The Naval behemoth can house more than 4,500 people and weighs 90,000 tons. The CVN-78 is the lead ship in the Ford class of aircraft carriers, replacing some of the U.S. Navy’s existing Nimitz-class carriers.
I guess Boeing forgot one important fact. Donald Trump has experience buying aircraft; the cost for his own planes, and the costs of planes when he purchased Eastern Airlines.
And so it begins, we will finally have someone in the White House who will actually watch the purse strings. I expect other significant tax payer savings too that have been traditional in government infrastructure boondoggles.
This just gets better and better and this news item inspires me to say just one more thing: Make America Great Again, Donald! We know you can do it!
Well, what do expect when they are used as a shuttle service for dogs...and their pets, for every golf, fundraiser, golf, vacation and golf outing they can think of.
They can walk or ride a bicycle.
Bunch of thieves.
Trump should renegotiate the contract - - looks like Boeing’s taking the American taxpayer...
Agreed. If this is good enough for our guys in uniform - it's certainly good enough for the press (of course this is the C141 cargo bay - but hey, you can pack in more of 'em!).
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