The supply of the primary new Air Power One aircraft, the plane that transports the president of the US, may now be 17 months later than initially deliberate, Boeing is projecting.
The 17-month delay projection has not been accepted by the Air Power and will change because the army negotiates with Boeing on a brand new schedule. The unique supply timeframe of December 2024 had already been sliding.
"We proceed to work carefully with the Air Power on a brand new accredited schedule baseline," a Boeing spokesperson advised CBS Information.
Breaking Protection first reported the projected delay. The COVID-19 pandemic and provide chain points have been blamed for a part of the delay.
"Boeing has supplied the Division of the Air Power a really useful replace to the VC – 25B schedule, however we've not but agreed on the size of the delay," an Air Power spokesperson stated. "This system group is analyzing the schedule earlier than taking any formal contractual or program actions."
The Trump administration reached an off-the-cuff deal with Boeing to offer the following technology of presidential plane in 2018 for a set value of $3.9 billion. The casual settlement adopted years of negotiations between Boeing and the Air Power, and concerned Donald Trump's private intervention.
The present fleet is made up of two specially-modified Boeing 747s, first utilized by President George H. W. Bush in 1990. The 2 planes have carried each president since then.
— CBS Information' Kathryn Krupnik and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.