“Air Force One, I’m just going to name a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation. A very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken,” said CEO David Calhoun. “But we are where we are.”
Boeing made the deal in 2018 after Trump publicly criticized the program’s costs and wrote “Cancel order!” and amid Trump’s harsh rhetoric on China that risked consequences for Boeing and other US exporters.
Earlier this month, the Air Force attributed the delay to a “combination of factors, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, interior supplier transitions, staffing limitations, cabling schedules and test execution rates.” Boeing declined to comment on the delay at the time.
Calhoun said the coronavirus pandemic has made work difficult because only a limited number of workers have the high-level security clearances needed to work on the project.
“If a Covid line goes down or a group of workers drop out, we don’t have a whole bunch of cleared people to follow in their footsteps,” he said.
“For VC-25B, where the clearances are extremely high, it’s really difficult,” he continued, using the military model number to describe the jets.
The former president, with his deal-making personality, was unusually hands-on with the Air Force One deal. He personally met with Boeing bigwigs at the White House to seal the deal. He also shared drawings for a new red, white, and blue color scheme for the Jets.
Other factors complicated the relationship between Trump and Boeing. The company has faced business pressure from its harsh criticism of China. After two deadly crashes, the president personally announced the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jet — a matter normally handled by the Federal Aviation Administration. And his deputy defense secretary, who eventually retired after allegations of domestic violence surfaced, was a former Boeing executive.