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AIRCRAFT AIR FORCE ONE Mentour Now!: What’s REALLY Going on With Air Force One?! PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzvB4ftJRrg Peter Burgess COMMENTARY 'Air Force One' is a very good example of 'fail' in management. For me it is a 'poster child' for management incompetence in high places. I was a very young 'manager' in the corporate setting ... becoming the CFO of a substantial American company at age 28. I had this job for about three years, during which time the company was able to improve its profit performance substantially. The way I became successful in that job is so different from the way big government initiatives are managed. During my career, the projects and companies I worked overperformed while costing less to develop and operate! Routinely ... it seems ... major initiatives of the military, government contractors and the 'big' initatives of government end up under performing and costing way more than originally planned for. How this has become the norm is difficult to explain without invoking 'systemic incompetence' At many levels 'Air Force One' is a fascinating product and project. I just wish it was also an example of management brilliance rather than being a 'poster child' for management dysfunction! Peter Burgess
What’s REALLY Going on With Air Force One?! Mentour Now! May 26, 2025 556K subscribers ... 597,457 views ... 21K likes The new Air Force One set to be built by Boeing has become one of the most delayed and expensive aircraft projects in modern history. So much so that this is actually the second time we've covered it! But, a lot has happened in the last few years since we previously took a look. So, what’s causing these setbacks? And why is a 400 million dollar Jet from Qatar involved? Let’s find out! 0:00 – Why Is Air Force One Being Replaced? 4:50 - Why is Air Force One Delayed? 17:30 - What is the Qatar Jet? 22:59 – Will the Qatar Jet Actually Replace Air Force One? 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SOURCES • Trump reveals the brand new Air Force One ... https://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/nat... • RAF Voyager: Boris Johnson's new military ... • After a fruitful Denmark visit, PM Modi em... • President Obama, Air Force One Arrives at ... • N.Ireland - Clintons Arrive In Belfast • US president arrives on latest leg of fare... • Qatar's luxury jet to be put to use as Air... • Donald Trump boards Air Force One with UK ... • President Trump says offer from Qatar for ... • President Trump lands in Qatar as he conti... • Trump Touts Record Boeing Order From Qatar... • British Airways - Building the 787-9 Dream... • 747-8 Freighter gets put together quickly • Trump administration accepts gift jet from... • WATCH: The Most Impressive Air Force One L... https://archive.org/details/airforceo... • The History of Air Force One • Inside Air Force One: Secrets to President... • Onboard Air Force One On 9/11 - Secret Ser... • RARE: WATCH Air Force One Meeting With Pre... • Boeing CEO Speaks To Reporters Before Test... • Russia's Transaero airline grounded over s... • Final Boeing 747 in production • VLOG: How Do You Lay Out Wire For An F-16 ... • How Boeing Builds a 737 in Just Nine Days ... • Ted Cruz Grills Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg • Trump issues emergency order grounding all... • Boeing agrees to plea deal over 737 Max cr... • Aerials of grounded Boeing 737 Max planes ... • Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner Completes First F... • Boeing 777X Flying Display at Singapore Ai... • Boeing KC-46 Tanker’s First Aerial Refueling • T-7A Red Hawk First Flight with the U.S. A... • Boeing's Starliner Rolls Out of Factory, I... • Trump to accept jet from Qatar to use as n... • US accepts luxury jet from Qatar for Trump... • Turkey President Erdogan Meets With Qatar’... • Grounded! Trump’s jet gift in trouble amid... • President Trump received a dramatic fighte... #Mentourpilot #pilot #aircraft Transcript Why Is Air Force One Being Replaced? 0:00 - What is going on with the US plans to replace the Air Force One? Why is it taking so long and is it really possible to accept a foreign luxury jet in the meantime? Well, this video is the latest on the Air Force One and how its replacement has become a mess of engineering, politics and billions of dollars in cost overruns, making the replacement of two nearly 40-year-old aircraft into one of the most challenging aviation projects in modern history. Stay tuned. Many countries use special aircraft to carry around their heads of state as a sign of power and prestige. And in the case of the United States, few symbols of American power are as instantly recognizable as the Air Force One. Now, I know that technically Air Force One is the call sign used for any US Air Force aircraft carrying the President, but the term has become synonymous 1:02 with the specially outfitted planes designed to serve as airborne White Houses. Now, in May this year the US President boarded one of those planes in order to visit several countries in the Middle East, including Qatar. And during that trip, came the announcement of an enormous Boeing order from Qatar Airways. This was a firm order for 130 787s and 30 777-9s, plus options for 50 more wide-body jets, which the US President initially said was worth over $200 billion. Although later White House statements put the total figure at $96 billion, which is closer to what many analysts expected. That's still a record-breaking order, both for Boeing and for the engine maker General Electric, so either way, it would definitely have been newsworthy on its own, even among the news of other large contracts and big geopolitical developments 2:00 that were announced on that same trip. But another reason why this story got a lot of coverage was because a few days earlier it had been reported that the US President wanted to accept a rather big gift from the state of Qatar, a $400 million Boeing 747-8 airliner in a VIP configuration that he could use as his new Air Force One, at least temporarily. Now, I'll come back to that idea shortly, but what is this really all about? What is happening to the original plan to replace the two aircraft currently used as Air Force Ones? Well, a while back I made a video about American presidential aircraft and how they have evolved over the years. It all started back in the 1940s when Franklin D. Roosevelt started using a modified Douglas C-54 Skymaster for that role. That was the military version of the DC-4. After that came the VC-118A, based on the DC-6, 3:03 followed by the VC-121E, based on Lockheed's Super Constellation. And it was in the era of those Connies that the call sign Air Force One first started to be used. Then came the advent of the Jet Age, which transformed everything. John F. Kennedy was the first president to fly in a jet-powered aircraft, specifically configured for him, a Boeing 707 designated the VC-137C. And the Kennedy administration also oversaw the introduction of the iconic blue and white color scheme, designed by Raymond Loewy, which still endures to this day. Then in 1990, it was time for another aircraft type to enter the service in that same role, which brings us to the current Air Force One fleet, two heavily modified Boeing 747-200Bs, designated VC-25A, who entered service under President George H.W. Bush. 4:03 These aircraft became the flying embodiment of American executive power, featuring significant upgrades in both communications and defense. The Air Force One also ensured that the autonomy of these jets would now never be a problem anymore, since they can now be air-refueled. In the decades since, the VC-25A has served every president from H.W. Bush to Biden. And here it's worth talking a little bit about the complexity of these planes, because the VC-25As are not just means of transport, they are also strategic assets. Their primary function is to provide the President of the United States with safe, reliable and continuous global mobility, which means that they must be able Why is Air Force One Delayed? to operate during times of war or crisis, and then support full command and control functions in mid-flight. That means that they are equipped with military-grade communication systems, 5:02 advanced electromagnetic pulse, EMP shielding, anti-aircraft countermeasures, as well as that air-refueling capability. So in other words, these aren't just fancy VIP jets, they are government communication centers, enabling the president to stay in touch with military commanders, world leaders, as well as key agencies at all times with multiple redundant communication systems all hardened against interference and various forms of attacks. But making these jets fit this new role wasn't just about adding new systems. The VC-25As also have a unique layout, including two lower-entrance doors with built-in air stairs that lead to what would normally be the cargo hold in a typical Boeing 747. Internal stairs then lead up to the main deck, which includes the presidential suite, complete with sleeping quarters and an office space, and there is also a conference room 6:01 and dining area along with seating for the president's staff, Secret Service, Air Force personnel, plus journalists and other guests. The aircraft's upper level is for its Air Force crew. And obviously we don't know what communications and other warfare systems they have at their disposal up there, but the plane also has medical facilities and a galley that can prepare food for everyone on board. Now, even with all of those people, the VC-25A typically flies around with less than 100 people on board, and that's to be compared with the 400-plus passengers and crew of a normal 747-200. That means that the plane's engines have plenty of excess power, which comes in handy if the pilot needs to take off and climb in a hurry. So all in all, these planes fit their role very, very well. But as reliable as these aircraft have been, they are now nearly 40 years old, 7:01 with their first flight having taken place back in 1987, three years before they entered service. This means that the VC-25As are now well past their intended service lives, and maintaining them operational isn't getting easier or cheaper. Many of their avionics and other systems are still dating back to the 1970s, meaning that spares are now starting to become hard to find. The planes are also showing their age in other ways. Their interiors have seen a couple of upgrades, but these are military aircraft, and interior refurbishments don't have as high priority as a lot of other things. So the need for a replacement presidential aircraft started becoming increasingly clear by the mid-2010s, in order to eliminate those maintenance issues and give the plane a more up-to-date interior, preferably also with a bit more space. And that brings us to the next generation, the VC-25B. 8:03 Now you know me, I could sit here and talk about aviation forever, but thankfully, I now have an excellent team around me to keep things focused and to the point. It's my editor, Spyros, who have researched and scripted this episode, so kudos to him, but running this channel is now very much like handling a small business. And that's why I really want to tell you about today's sponsor, Odoo, the all-in-one business management platform that can help you with everything from signing your contracts, invoicing and much, much more. It really saves so much time, and therefore lets you focus on what matters most, running your business. What I think that you will especially enjoy is their intuitive website builder. Here, let me show you. First you define your type of business website, niche and goals, and then you select your color palette, so Odoo knows what colors you use. Then you pick the pages and features you need, 9:02 and lastly, choose a theme. Trust me, they have plenty. From there, Odoo generates the basics, and you can just drag and drop blocks to build your website with every detail fully customizable, no coding needed at all. And if you're stuck, they even have an AI to help you generate text. Now, your first Odoo application is completely free for life with unlimited hosting and support, so you can try them out with zero risk. Just scan this QR code, or click on the link here in the description to get started. Thank you so much, Odoo, for sponsoring this video. Now, where were we? Ah yeah, the VC-25B. Replacing the Presidential 747s with newer 747s wasn't always a given. The Air Force also considered other aircraft for that role, but ultimately decided that they still wanted something that had four engines. As I've explained in other videos, 10:01 this is because the military wanted the option to continue with a flight even after encountering an engine issue, instead of diverting like we would do in the airline world. Even so, deciding on a new type took years, until January of 2015, when the Air Force formally announced that the Boeing 747-8 had been selected to serve as the base for the new Air Force One, the VC-25B. And the initial goal was to have two aircraft, fully converted and ready for operational service by the early 2020s. But almost from the start, the program encountered significant turbulence. Instead of a traditional cost-plus model, where the government agrees to pay a contractor for all allowable expenses plus a fixed profit, the VC-25Bs' contract was instead structured as a fixed price agreement. So in 2018, under the first Trump administration, the White House negotiated directly 11:01 with the then Boeing CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, to secure a $3.9 billion fixed price contract for development and delivery of two aircraft. The intention was to save taxpayers money and to keep costs from ballooning, which seemed like a win for the American taxpayer. The government would, with this type of contract, get its next generation Air Force One for a predetermined cost, just under $4 billion, regardless of what happened during the development. But in the world of aerospace engineering, where technical and economic uncertainty is the norm and mission requirements can suddenly evolve mid-project, that approach introduced significant risk for Boeing. And the first problems didn't take long to appear. To save costs, Boeing and the Air Force agreed to use two existing undelivered Boeing 747-8s, which Boeing had made for a bankrupt Russian airline 12:02 called TransAero. Now, that might have looked like a good idea on paper, but transforming these jets into fully-secure, radiation-hardened flying command posts was never going to be simple. It's not as easy as, for example, a passenger-to-freighter conversion. Instead, here, every system in the aircraft, communications, power, defense, environmental and beyond, had to be either replaced, hardened or entirely redesigned to meet the security needs of the US President. On top of that, as I've explained in my previous video, the US Air Force also insisted that the two jets should meet current FAA requirements for critical flight systems, even though these would be military jets, who were therefore, not subject to FAA certification. One of the problems with that was that, like other older aircraft types, the 747 is built using older standards 13:00 for wiring, for example. Newer rules state that wiring bundles for redundant systems must be separated in case of a fire or other forms of damage, but older aircraft may continue to be made under those older FAA standards, which are grandfathered into newer model variants. But since the Air Force now wanted its VC-25B to meet new aircraft certification standards, Boeing had to move a lot of existing aircraft wiring in the already built jets. And obviously, that's on top of also having to make room for new wiring for the Air Force's many military toys. Aircraft manufacturers generally like to stuff aircraft sections with wiring and hydraulic lines before all of the different fuselage sections are brought together. So removing and replacing all of this in already built jets, following new wiring routes is a huge undertaking to do, 14:00 a challenge that Boeing severely underestimated. 14:05 On top of that, more problems than quickly followed. About a year after the 2018 contract was signed, Boeing came under intense FAA scrutiny following the grounding of the 737 MAX fleet, and then only a year after that, came the 2020 pandemic. So this all meant that just two years into the contract, Boeing had already taken a pre-tax charge from nearly $1 billion related to cost overruns. And early in 2023, that figure had then ballooned to two billion dollars after more issues involving GDC Technics, a Boeing subcontractor responsible for interior modifications. GDC also did maintenance work on the existing VC-25As, and Boeing eventually sued them in 2021, accusing them of being late, which frankly wasn't surprising in the middle of a pandemic. 15:00 GDC then countersued Boeing, accusing them of mismanagement and late contract payments, so ultimately Boeing terminated GDC's contract and took over the interior work themselves, and GDC then eventually went bankrupt. This in turn meant that Boeing had to accelerate hiring and retraining efforts in order to keep the program on track, which only added strain to the rest of the company's budgetary problems. Meanwhile, the Air Force started moving the goalposts. In any defense project, especially one as important as this one, the mission scope can change to meet changing threats, so new requirements were soon added in order to enhance or future-proof the key secret military systems on board. But under the contract's fixed price terms, Boeing now had to cover any airframe-related modifications out of its own pocket. 16:00 And in an aircraft like the 747, this could bring a domino effect of changes in systems and even in certification costs. As of 2024, Boeing had publicly acknowledged over $2.4 billion in losses on the VC-25B program, and that's an incredible amount in a contract involving just two aircraft. And remember, this was during a time when Boeing obviously also continued to deal with the 737 MAX issues, 787 production stoppages and delays, and the 777Xs certification problems, as well as everything else about Boeing that I've covered on this channel. They also had issues with several other military programs that were using fixed-price contracts at this time. These included the KC-46 Tanker, the T-7 Air Force trainer, as well as NASA's Starliner spacecraft. So reassessing their approach towards fixed-price contracts is just one of the many challenges that Boeing's management has had to face in recent years. 17:01 But anyway, as of early 2024, the projected delivery dates of the two new Air Force Ones had slipped considerably. Originally, they had been slated for entry into service by 2024, but projections soon pushed that timeline to 2026, then to 2027, and most recently to 2029. Nearly a decade after the program was formally contracted. And this brings us to 2025, an interesting development What is the Qatar Jet? that came back in February, which Ben actually covered in one of our monthly news recap videos. You see, Trump, at one point, decided to pay a visit to a parked 747 that was configured as a luxury private jet and parked at Palm Beach International Airport. That jet had registration P4-HBJ, and it was originally built back in 2012, and Trump was really, really impressed with its lavish interior. 18:01 Then in the beginning of May, the first reports emerged stating that this same aircraft could maybe become an interim Air Force One, with defense contractor L3Harris negotiating a contract to handle the necessary modifications. If it all went to plan, the hope was for this plane to be ready already by this fall in 2025. So, where did this 747 come from then? Well, the HBJ in the plane's registration originally stood for Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who was the Prime Minister of Qatar between 2007 and 2013, and the original owner of this plane. Now, it's not clear who the plane's current owner is. Officially, it was transferred to a company in the Isle of Man in 2023, but it still appears to be under the control of the Qatari government. Now, there are plenty of pictures of its interior available online, 19:00 and they look really, really awesome, but as Jeremy Bogaisky explained in Forbes, 747s in VIP configurations aren't as desirable now as they were 10 or 15 years ago. Qatar has actually been trying to sell this aircraft since 2020, but without finding a buyer, and that's even though business jets of all shapes and sizes were selling like hotcakes in the pandemic. But going back to Qatar, their offer to gift this 747 to the US President actually isn't unique. In 2018, they donated another unwanted 747-8, this time to Turkish President Erdoġan, and according to some reports, that aircraft was even more lavish than the one offered to Trump, and therefore also pricier, $500 million instead of $400 million. But when we're speaking of values, note that these are just estimates for the cost of building and configuring these planes as they are. The question is, if their owners tried 20:01 to sell them but couldn't, are they really worth $400 or $500 million? Obviously, this matter has caused a lot of speculation around the rules regarding gifts between heads of states and other influential people since no matter how you slice it, the value will still be higher than the few hundred dollars that is normally allowed. Now, I'd rather stay clear of that for now, but it's probably safe to assume that discussions about the fate of this plane has been ongoing for months already, even before the story blew up in early May. And that brings us back to Boeing and its VC-25Bs. Back in February, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg stated that his company is working together with Trump's government, and Elon Musk, to figure out ways to deliver the planes to the Air Force faster. Then in May, Boeing proposed a new plan to deliver the two VC-25Bs by 2027, 21:02 if the Air Force and the government agree on some changes to the plan. The Air Force and the White House is now reportedly discussing what's acceptable from a capability standpoint. We obviously don't know what these capabilities are, but presumably it's things that could be added to the aircraft at a later date. And separately, the US government also lifted some security requirements around the construction of the next Air Force One jets. And that's super important, because finding mechanics and engineers with the right security clearances has been one of the big stumbling blocks for Boeing and its subcontractors. But that actually raises another interesting point here. If L3Harris is really going to turn that Qatari 747-8 into a plane for the US President, even temporarily, then where will they find the people with the right security clearances to do that job? 22:00 With companies competing for staff, could the work on the Qatari jet then actually make delays for the two existing VC-25Bs even worse? As I said earlier, a presidential jet isn't just a really nice big business jet. Even a temporary Air Force One will need Air Force systems and equipment on board, and it's not clear how gutting the interior of a jet like Qatar's would be faster than the work already in progress on those two other planes. Well, of course, that's unless the Air Force and the US government agree on a much lower equipment standard that could require, for example, things like a flying fighter escort wherever it's going. Then, if that aircraft is to be donated to Trump's Presidential Library after the new president is elected, any Air Force systems installed would then need to be removed, so it's not really clear how that whole process would save the government any money. But maybe I'm missing something here. Will the Qatar Jet Actually Replace Air Force One? 23:00 Ultimately, some analysts think that the discussion around the Qatari jet is probably just a way to put pressure on Boeing and perhaps even the US Air Force in order to build those VC-25Bs faster. And when it comes to Qatar, well, even if that deal doesn't go through, the fact that they offered the plane at all is perhaps a good enough gesture in itself. But what do you think? Do you think that the Qatari 747 could really be ready for Trump faster than the VC-25Bs? And what do you think is actually driving the discussion? Let me know in the comments here below. Thank you so much for watching, and don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel. And if you want to watch this episode before everyone else and also have the chance to interact directly with my team and I about the videos in themselves, then please scan this QR code or go to patreon.com/join/mentourpilot and sign up. You can try it out for free for a full week if you want to. My name is Petter Hörnfeldt and you're watching Mentour Now. Have an absolutely fantastic day, and I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.

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