Trump’s tough negotiations cost Boeing a fortune
Donald Trump has ordered a new presidential plane from Boeing. But the company would prefer to get out of a prestigious project. The plane is all trouble.
Walter Niederberger
Published: 06/10/2022, 21:29
Its successor causes problems: the current Air Force One takes off and remains in service for longer.
Photo: Carlos Osorio (Keystone)
The announcement was not modest: “Air Force One will be amazing,” said Donald Trump four years ago when he signed a contract with Boeing to produce a new presidential plane. Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg proudly stated that he was allowed to build a “flying white house”. “President Trump has negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people.”
How right Muilenburg was to be. His successor Dave Calhoun regrets this more than ever. Not only is the project a financial fiasco, it also creates technical problems due to Trump’s coveted paint job and is likely to be delayed by three years at best, the Government Accountability Office warned in a report to Congress.
The reason is the complex technology of the project, for which there are currently insufficient qualified staff. Boeing is not the only industrial group reporting similar problems in a tight labor market. However, the Air Force One project has difficult requirements. The technicians and engineers must be particularly reliable as Air Force One is being built as a flying fortress and is subject to strict secrecy laws.
In addition, employees must undergo drug testing. After two years of Covid blockade, this is a major stumbling block, the nationwide medical research laboratory Quest Diagnostics has found. Last year, 4.6% of all drug tests for jobseekers tested positive. This is the highest number in 20 years. Workforce shortages have forced many companies to lower the threshold and hire workers who test positive for marijuana. In fact, Amazon completely stopped testing drugs in warehouses last year.
Dear color wish
Boeing cannot afford it. When empty tequila bottles were found in a future Air Force One aircraft two years ago, Boeing had to explain to Congress and promise better surveillance. However, an empty tequila bottle was later found again, this time allegedly unrelated to the Air Force One project.
Two Air Force One’s are under construction and Boeing is already deep on the brink. Although Trump has negotiated the price to $ 3.9 billion, the cost is now over $ 5 billion. Contrary to regular government orders, this time the group cannot hold hands. Instead, Trump has instructed Boeing to bear all additional costs itself. Additional taxpayer payments were out of the question, Trump said after cutting the price “over a billion dollars.” For Boeing, this means taking on the cost of delivery bottlenecks and a lack of staff.
Former US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania wave from Air Force One.
Photo: Stefani Reynolds (Keystone)
The company was spared a special request from Trump for a new coat of paint. The light blue and white of the existing machines had to be replaced with patriotic red, white and blue. “Baby Blue doesn’t suit us,” he said. However, the deep blue painting on the underside of the machine that Trump had previously requested had the disadvantage that it would raise the internal temperature of the machine and require additional insulation.
The government’s control bureau warned that the wiring would be particularly vulnerable. “Cabling is a particular risk as it requires over 320 kilometers of cabling – almost twice as much as a commercial 747.” This prompted President Joe Biden to end the exercise, the White House announced Friday. Due to technical hazards, the machines should not fly red, white and blue, but the well-known light blue and white.
Years of delay
Calhoun, Boeing’s CEO, didn’t need this problem either. Its predecessor, Muilenburg, was released in 2019 following the crash of two 737 Max aircraft, and Calhoun took the helm with a mandate to regain the trust of customers and shareholders.
According to the Boeing chief, the contract exposed the company to a risk that the company probably should not have taken.
More than 30 airlines are now flying the improved 737 Max without incident. Even so, industry experts say it will take many years for Boeing to relinquish its reputation for blatant mismanagement. So far, this has not been achieved: Boeing has lost two-thirds of its market value on the stock exchange since 2019. Looking back, Calhoun knows the job was a mistake. The deal with Trump “put the Boeing at a risk that we probably shouldn’t have taken.”
The new Air Force One will not be ready for take-off in 2024 as planned, but in 2026 or 2027 at best. As a result, existing machines that are more than 30 years old have to be modernized again.
The new machines have another disadvantage: unlike the existing Air Force One, they cannot be refilled in flight. In return, the engines consume less fuel. The Air Force estimates $ 1.9 billion in fuel cost savings over 30 years of operation.
Published: 06/10/2022, 21:29
Found a bug? Report now.
4 comments