Trump toured a Boeing aircraft in Palm Beach as the company struggles with delays in delivering two new Air Force One jets.
President Donald Trump on Saturday toured a new Boeing plane at an airport in Palm Beach on Saturday to inspect the hardware and technology as the company struggles to complete two delayed U.S. presidential aircraft known as Air Force One.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung confirmed on Feb. 15 the Trump tour and hinted at the administration’s frustration over the Air Force One delivery delays.
“President Trump is touring a new Boeing plane to checkout the new hardware/technology,“ Cheung said. ”This highlights the project’s failure to deliver a new Air Force One on time as promised, as they are already 5 years late.”
Trump arrived at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach on Friday afternoon, and is set to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The plane Trump toured has the tail number P4-HBJ, according to Planespotters.net. It appears to be a 747-8KB model manufactured at Boeing’s assembly facility in Everett, Washington, and first delivered in 2012. The plane was initially operated by Qatar Amiri and is currently operated by Global Jet.
During Trump’s first term in office, Boeing secured a $3.9 billion contract in 2018 to build two 747-8 planes that are to serve as the next Air Force One aircraft, replacing the two current 747-200s in the presidential fleet. The original delivery deadline for the new 747-8 was December 2024 but the project has been delayed. Deliveries have been pushed to at least 2027 and 2028 and the project is around $2 billion over budget.
Boeing has blamed design changes, labor constraints, and supply chain problems for the delays.
“Our team is fighting through a very, very challenging program—two very complex airplanes,” Ted Colbert, who heads Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in July 2024. “We’ve done a ton of investment in our workforce and training, efficiency, work on the factory floor.”
The Boeing 747-8s are designed as an airborne White House, capable of operating in extreme security scenarios, including nuclear war. They are equipped with military-grade avionics, advanced communications systems, and a self-defense suite.
By Tom Ozimek
