The Qatari-donated 747-8i aircraft slated to become the interim Air Force One finished its modifications and flight testing ahead of launch by this summer.
Boeing’s VC-25B Bridge aircraft is currently being painted in the red, white and blue livery that President Donald Trump initially sought after during his first term in 2018, according to a Friday Air Force release.
Plans to replace the current Air Force One aging planes with two new VC-25B aircrafts have been in effect for about a decade, but a lack of properly cleared workers and supply chain issues caused the plans that were originally scheduled for a 2024 delivery to be delayed.
Now, the aircrafts are expected to be delivered in 2028.
“With the Boeing VC-25B deliveries delayed past its initial 2024 target and VC-25A heavy maintenance cycles extending, an interim capability became an absolute imperative,” the release says.
Although Trump has voiced his dissatisfaction many times with Boeing’s delays, the defense company has expressed their determination to complete the transformation of 747-8 aircraft into VC-25Bs.
In the meantime, Trump will use the luxury jet that was donated by Qatar in May 2025.
The decision to use this aircraft raised national security concerns along with worries over the amount of time and money it would require to renovate the aircraft to be appropriate for presidential use.
In June 2025, the Air Force said it would cost roughly $400 million to modify the aircraft, far less than the $1 billion aviation experts and lawmakers previously speculated.
To make the plane suitable for a president, the plane’s defense would have to be reinforced with countermeasures, encrypted communications and other necessities installed.
The release did not specify what type of capabilities the Air Force installed. Aviation experts conjectured in the past that updating the aircraft to fit those capabilities would last into the 2030s.
“To meet the VC-25B Bridge accelerated timeline, the Air Force leveraged unique industry partnerships and a creative acquisition strategy, utilizing multiple 747-8 airframes from around the globe to support both the final aircraft and the training pipeline,” the statement reads.
L3Harris Technologies, a defense contractor company, was selected to modify the aircraft in collaboration with Boeing, who provided engineering data to support the required updates, according to the release.
This collaboration “catapulted” the operational readiness ahead of the initial schedule, the release noted, with the Air Force creating an at-scale mockup of the aircraft’s interior to allow for White House staff to complete early commissioning activities.
“This platform provides the Air Force with invaluable lead time to mature our training pipelines, synchronize our supply chains and solidify sustainment frameworks,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said in the release.
“We are building the ecosystem necessary to ensure this fleet remains mission-ready for the next 30 to 40 years,” Meink concluded.
Currently, Trump is using the VC-25A, a version of the Boeing 747 that has been in service as the primary Air Force One aircraft since 1990.
Even though the VC-25B is on track to be delivered to the Presidential Airlift Group by this summer, it is unclear when the president is slated to begin flying in it.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
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