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Back in February, President Donald Trump said
Boeing’s progress on the new Air Force One was
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taking too long, and he threatened to go
another way,
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maybe even dipping into the used aircraft
market to find something to convert.
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Well, it appears that the president has reached
the end of his patience and is now.
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Repurposing a used Qatari plane to become the
new Air Force One,
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and he’s tasked one of Boeing’s contractors to
get it done.
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Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported
that President Trump has contracted L3 Harris
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to retrofit a Boeing 747 previously owned by
the Qatari government.
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In his defense, Boeing’s delays are so
pronounced that the president may not even fly
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in the new Air Force One by the end of his
second term.
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The fight reaches back to late 2016 when Trump
was the president-elect for his first term and
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threatened to cancel the order over out of
control costs.
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The two sides reached a new $3.9 billion deal
about two years later.
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It will be no small feat for the Florida-based
defense contractor,
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which has been tasked with overhauling the old
bird and having it in the air by this fall.
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At least they’re familiar with similar projects.
L3.
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Harris is contracted by Boeing to perform work
on the new Air Force One’s communication
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systems.
At least one of Boeing’s new aircraft was
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scheduled to be ready by last year.
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According to the Wall Street Journal’s report,
Boeing said the new planes may not be delivered
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until 2035 as it has struggled to construct the
intentionally complex aircraft.
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But 2035, the frustrations were felt in the
previous administration,
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which even considered switching to European
competitor Airbus to get the job done before
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Trump took office for his second term, he
tasked Elon Musk with moving the project along,
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and according to Newsweek, Boeing CEO Kelly
Ortberg said Musk’s involvement was helping the
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planemaker navigate through non-value added
constraints to move faster.
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Still looks like it wasn’t fast enough.
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I’m David Manti.
This is manufacturing now.