The Biden administration has decided that future presidents will not fly with former President Donald Trump’s colors and says extra costs scuttled the revised paint job on the new VC-25 aircraft now being laboriously built by Boeing. When he signed the paperwork for the new aircraft after personally intervening in the contract talks, Trump ordered Boeing to paint the aircraft with a red, white and navy blue livery that looked a lot like the colors used on his personal Boeing 757, dubbed Trump Force One. The White House has determined those colors were too hot for reasons other than politics.
Right.
“The administration” discovered this engineering challenge, just now? This breaking news disclosed by “an anonymous source,” of course.
And I’ve got a bridge for sale in Manhattan. It comes with TWO scoops of ice cream.
Wow, never heard of an airliner with a dark paint on the belly, must boil the potable water. Maybe a dark top on a composite plane. Come on Biden is so small that to fly on a plane even painted in a scheme somewhat picked by his predecessor is too much.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus don’t hold a candle to the Media Bros. and D & R Circus. New act every hour and the curtain never drops.
For the next act…, the administration will announce that the Air Force One will only use SAF fuel and have a rainbow belly. These minor changes will only cost the tax payer another billion or two but, who’s counting anyway? ? ?
Air Force One has components not found on typical airliners. For example all of the defensive countermeasures, not to mention additional communications equipment. With the budget overrun of this program, sounds like Boeing is trying to cut their loses with a less expensive paint job. What’s the problem with letting Boeing change the paint to decrease the cost of the program? Or is it that the former president and his supporters have such thin skins and sensitive egos that they can’t help but be triggered by any change made by their opponents, regardless of how small and inconsequential? And really with everything going on in the world right now, a paint job is just that, small and inconsequential. If it were my decision I’d tell Boeing to paint it as cheaply as possible to sufficiently protect the aircraft as long as they split the cost reduction with the tax payers (i.e. the government).
“… the new VC-25 aircraft now being laboriously built by Boeing.” Russ, don’t you mean being laboriously RE-built by Boeing? Then President Trump decided that, rather than build new airplanes from the start, he (the government) would supply two existing 747s already built and sitting in storage. They were originally slated for a defunct Russian airline that never took possession. His reasoning was that getting the existing planes would save a lot of money for the taxpayers. In reality, I suspect that many of the cost overruns on the planes stem from the extensive modifications needed to make the finished planes meet the strict requirements for the President’s use. However, I have no pity for Boeing if they lost money on the project. They are big boys, and if they can’t figure out how to price a bid to make money, shame on them.
Well, he did make a big deal about being the “Dealmaker in Chief” when he negotiated the project with Boeing. It’s hard to leave his name out of this issue.
I agree, the cost overruns are Boeing’s responsibility. No one forced them into a fixed price contract. That being said, why all the fuss if changing the paint job to something equally performant makes the deal less of a loss for Boeing?
Gregory W hilarious! But you forgot “two scoopes” of ice cream, Biden being so small, SAF fuel, a rainbow belly, and a bridge for sale in Manhattan (all sung to the tune of 12 days of Christmas).
Could there have been some connection between no criminal charges being brought against Boeing by the Justice Department (the very same folks Not Charging the three Opioids Distributors) for the 737 Max deaths and Boeing eating cost overruns? [Who does not love a conspiracy story?]
I’m not sure what’s so “petty” about going back to the cheaper, original paint scheme. Seems like the only one who was being petty was the former president who wanted it changed in the first place.
Why not just paint it all white, an appropriate color for the America - Last fake president and his entourage of handlers? The plane is full of Fruit Loops when he flies, I’ve heard. Weren’t the U2s and SR-71s all black? How does Southwest cope with those nice blue and orange airplanes? And what about Jet Blue? Just leave the planes for the Real President Trump in the desert. It won’t be long and he’ll be in them again.