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I'm not happy with Boeing, Trump says over Air Force One

João da Silva
Business reporter
Reuters Picture of Air Force One at Sawyer International Airport in MichiganReuters
US president says he is looking for alternatives because it is taking Boeing too long to build the new planes

The US President Donald Trump has said he is not happy with Boeing over a contract to build two new Air Force One planes that is running behind schedule.

Speaking on board one of the 35-year-old presidential planes that are currently in use, Trump also said he is looking for alternatives because it is taking Boeing too long to build the planes.

The contract for two updated versions of the presidential plane based on the more modern Boeing 747-8 were negotiated during Trump's first term in office.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BBC News.

"No, I'm not happy with Boeing. It takes them a long time to do, you know, Air Force One, we gave that contract out a long time ago," Trump said.

"We may buy a plane or get a plane, or something."

When asked whether he would consider buying new planes from Boeing's European rival, Airbus, Trump said "No, I would not consider Airbus over Boeing, but I could buy one that was used and convert it."

It comes days after Trump visited a 13-year-old Boeing 747-8 that had been owned by the Qatari royal family while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.

The new aircraft from Boeing were set for delivery in 2024 but the plane maker has pushed the delivery back to 2027 or 2028.

During his first term as president, Trump forced the plane maker to renegotiate its contract, calling the initial deal too expensive.

That contract has already cost Boeing billions of dollars.

Kitting out the planes for presidential use is extremely costly. It requires installing highly-classified and complex communications, safety and accessibility features.

Last year was dreadful for Boeing. The aerospace giant lost $11.8bn (£9.4bn) across the whole of 2024, its worst result since 2020, when the aviation industry was grounded by the Covid pandemic.

In the three months to the end of December, when strikes were affecting the business, it lost $3.8bn.

As well as suffering from well-publicised problems at its commercial aircraft unit, Boeing also faced issues with a number of defence programmes.