Questioning exorbitant costs from Boeing for future Air Forces One purchases, 70-year-old President-elect Donald Trump made good on his promise to not allow foreign or domestic contractors to rip off the government. Signaling the end to the government’s blank check policy on purchases, Trump served notice there’s a new sheriff in town. “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Tweeted Trump. Raising questions about government contracting, Trump puts all government contractors on notice that someone’s paying attention. “Budgeted costs for the Air Force One replacement program are $2.87 billion for the fiscal years 2015 through 2012,” noted Reuters, not sure where Trump gets his figures. Boeing said it’s currently under a $170 million contract for Air Force One.
Trump’s figure may take into account Boeing’s rising costs, knowing, the way things are going, costs could escalate dramatically from current estimates. “We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States,” said Boeing. Current costs of a Boeing 747-8 platform are $378.5 million for the commercial model. That’s about one-tenth the price cited by Trump for future Air Force One orders. “We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer,” said Boeing, hoping to account for the large discrepancy between its commercial and military-grade aircraft. Questioning prices, Trunp through the media for a loop.
Boeing’s response offers no price guarantees or explanation why the landed cost of an Air Force One is astronomically more than its commercial aircraft. “Well, the place is totally out of control,” Trump told reporters at Trump Tower. “It’s going to be over $4 billion for the Air Force One program. And I think it’s ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money,” said Trump, knowing the prices because he flies a Boeing 757-200, called Trump Force One. Knowing the prices, it’s more difficult for companies like Boeing to pull the wool over Trump’s eyes. At the same time, no one discounts the fact that more goes into Air Force One than commercial jetliners. Questions about how Boeing prices out Air Force One are more out on the table now that Trump expects to be inaugurated Jan. 20, 2017.
Anything Trump Tweets draws criticism from the mainstream press, recently criticizing him from taking a congratulatory phone call Dec. 2 from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, causing a diplomatic brouhaha. Mainland China objects to any U.S. recognition of Taiwan since 1979 when the U.S.-P.R.C joint communiqué agreed to recognizing only Beijing. Beijing filed a diplomatic protest with the State Department over Trump’s phone call from Taipei. Nothing in the 1979 joint communiqué says a U.S. president can’t receive a congratulatory phone call. Trump’s latest Tweet questioning Boeing’s pricing on new generation Air Force Ones shows the media’s looking for anything to criticize Trump. Communication Director Jason Miller said Trump’s Tweet “really speaks to the president-elect’s focus on keeping costs down across the board with regarding to government spending.”
What irks the press is that Trump goes to the beat of his own drummer, promising to deal with publicly-traded companies or China, in his own way, including questioning the whopping $500 billion trade deficit, leaving most U.S.-China trade deals a one-way street. Raising cost issues with Air Force One shows that Trump isn’t afraid to call any company or country on the carpet for taking advantage of the U.S. “We have many decades of productive relationships with presidential administrations from both political parties and I would expect that we will reach the same point with the Trump administration,” said Boeing Spokesman Todd Blecher. Boeing wouldn’t respond so quickly unless it sees potential PR issues for Chicago-based aerospace giant. Most government contractors don’t want to have their pricing questioned, especially by the President-elect.
Boeing and other government contractors are under notice that the days of the blank check are over under Trump. Whatever the costs of producing Air Force One, new accountability standards under Trump demand that companies give the government the best possible price, not, as in the past, rip off the government. With a 30-year-old Air Force One fleet, it’s time to start replacing the aging planes. “The real challenge and the challenge that is forcing us to buy newer aircraft for the president, it to overcome the fact that there are heroics going on every day to keep the current aircraft flying and it’s becoming was too expensive and way to difficult to do that,” said Kevin Buckley, CEO of Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson in Ohio. No one disputes the necessity of replacing Air Force One. Trump raised a taboo subject for government contractors: Reasonable costs.
