Free Republic

What makes the Air Force One program so costly? The CEO of Boeing told President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday that his company can build a new Air Force One for less than originally quoted -- after Trump complained about the cost. Earlier this month, Trump made headlines for blasting the company on Twitter for alleged cost overruns with the new fleet of Air Force One planes. Trump called on the government to cancel the contract and called the supposed $4 billion price tag out of control.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg leaves after a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. PHOTO: CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS President-elect Donald Trump met on Wednesday with the chief executives of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation’s two largest defense contractors, two weeks after he started publicly berating the cost of some of their military projects.The meetings with Boeing’s Dennis Muilenburg and Lockheed’s Marillyn Hewson were held at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., where Mr. Trump is staying for the Christmas holiday.Mr. Muilenburg previously spoke to Mr. Trump via telephone on Dec. 6, shortly...

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to meet .....with the chief executives of two defense contractors he has criticized over project costs. Dennis Muilenburg, of Boeing Co, and Marillyn Hewson, from Lockheed Martin Corp, arrived at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort where he is spending Christmas. ... Trump has complained about the companies in Twitter broadsides and speeches for costs he said are too expensive, sending defense shares tumbling. Trump has said Boeing's costs to build replacements for aging Air Force One planes - one of the most visible symbols of the U.S. presidency - are too high and urged the federal...

President-elect Trump’s criticism of Boeing and the costs of the new Air Force One aircraft is, I believe, more than just political theater. If there is anything his business experience has taught Mr. Trump, it’s that getting the most bang for the buck while meeting performance standards is paramount in any successful venture. Trump has said he intends to make AF1 cheaper. Consider that AF1 is essentially a flying command and control node. If communications and other digitized systems are up to speed, then using more standard components in a proven aircraft would result in a significant cost savings while...

Just three months after the Boeing-Saab consortium unveiled their candidate for the USAF’s T-X program, the clean-sheet design has taken to the skies for the first time. The sleek GE-F404 powered jet took to the skies over St. Louis on a 55 minute test flight with veteran test pilot Steve 'Bull' Schmidt at its controls. Boeing says the flight went as planned and “validated key aspects of the single-engine jet and demonstrated the performance of the low-risk design.” This inaugural sortie came just days after it was discovered that Northrop Grumman had quietly been flying their Model 400 T-X contender...

he EVA Airways Boeing 777 bound for Taipei, Taiwan, flew north instead of south after departing from LAX early Friday morning, according to the FAA’s Ian Gregor. “At the time, aircraft were departing from LAX to the east,” Gregor said, adding that the EVA flight departed from the airport’s south runway complex. The 777’s flight crew switched from the LAX control tower to the approach control in San Diego right after takeoff, Gregor said. “The air-traffic controller at the approach control who was handling EVA instructed the pilot to make a left turn to a 180-degree heading,” Gregor said. “She...

Boeing told employees Monday there will be more job cuts in the new year. The jetmaker says it need to reduce costs further in the face of intense competition and a flagging jet sales market.

Airbus delegates have arrived in Tehran for talks aimed at finalizing a deal to sell around 100 planes, an Iranian official said Monday. The representatives of the European aerospace giant arrived on Sunday just hours after national carrier Iran Air concluded a $16.6 billion deal with US firm Boeing to buy 80 planes. […] Meanwhile, some conservatives in Iran reacted angrily to news of the deal with Boeing, which comes at a time when lawmakers in Washington have recently voted for renewed sanctions on the country. …

Trump & Boeing: It's Not About Air Force One, It's About China by Jon Ostrower December 9, 2016 Boeing executives were blindsided by Donald Trump's Tuesday comments about the cost of Air Force One, but those weren't the tweets that worried America's largest exporter. Many former and current Boeing executives say they're far more worried about Trump's antagonism toward China, the largest and most important growth market for the crown jewel of American manufacturing. "The vulnerability to China is pretty clear," said one former senior Boeing executive. In contrast to the long term stakes over Boeing's future in China, the...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s flag carrier finalized a major deal with U.S. plane maker Boeing Co. to buy $16.6 billion worth of passenger planes Sunday in one of the most tangible benefits yet for the Islamic Repubic from last year’s landmark nuclear agreement.

Boeing Seals $16.6 Billion Deal to Sell Jets to Iran Plane maker’s contract comes as incoming Trump administration appears hostile to closer ties with Iran By ROBERT WALL and ASA FITCH Dec. 11, 2016 Boeing Co. completed a deal to sell 80 jetliners to Iran, the first major agreement between a U.S. company and the Islamic Republic since the election of Donald Trump, a critic of closer links between the countries. The first Boeing 777-300ER long-haul planes would be delivered to Iran Air in 2018 under the deal announced Sunday that carries a list price of $16.6 billion before discounts,

tThe Pentagon program that will replace the pair of aging 'Air Force One' planes is already slated to cost $4.265 billion through the year 2021, according to federal budget and procurement documents obtained by DailyMail.com. That number supports what President-elect Donald Trump said two days ago when he claimed the U.S. Air Force should cancel its order with Boeing because the project's cost had spiraled above $4 billion. '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!' Trump tweeted Tuesday. Critics immediately pounced, including...

Using the same skill set he employed during the presidential campaign, President-Elect Trump has crafted another public drama around a storyline of his choosing. A highly predictable story arc – a series of subplots that unfold as time passes – is in store for the public. Trump has done this sort of thing before. And unlike any previous president, he is an incredibly successful impresario/performer in episodic reality television. A substantial fraction of the electorate follows politics at the level of reality television, and Trump knows how to reach them. His early-morning tweet of December 6 was an attention-grabbing opening...

Ukraine's Antonov aircraft maker suggested US President-elect Donald Trump should order Air Force One from Ukraine, a message on the official Twitter page of the company said, TASS reports. "Maybe it would be better to consider an Antonov aircraft as Air Force One?" the tweet said. The state-run Antonov aircraft building plant is Ukraine's only developer and manufacturer of cargo and passenger aircraft. The company is best known for such aircraft as AN-32, AN-148, AN-158, AN-74, AN-124, AN-70 and AN-225. The company did not specify which aircraft exactly they would like to propose to the new President of the United...

Hours after Donald Trump promised to kill the Air Force One procurement program, Boeing Chief Executive Dennis A. Muilenburg spoke with the president-elect on Tuesday, promising to work with the new administration and to keep the costs of the program down, according to a person with knowledge of the matter...

Not even for Air Force One Defense contractors were pretty excited when Donald Trump won the election, figuring it was fat and happy time once again for defense spending. And if happy time means the Pentagon will once again be willing to fund what the nation needs for its defense, then there should indeed by plenty of smiles to go around. As for the fat part, defense contractors are used to the idea that cost overruns are no issue with the Pentagon because whatever they order they have to have, and have right away. The cost-is-no-object approach to national security...

Is this the Art of the Deal coming into play, or a stand against gouging by defense contractors? Despite insisting on the latest in luxury as a private citizen, Donald Trump seems to be saying no to a new fleet of presidential aircraft. He tweeted earlier today that the contract for replacing Air Force One should be canceled due to spiraling costs: 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!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016 Over the past few months,...

Six weeks from taking office, Donald Trump says he wants the government to cut some costs by canceling its order for a new Air Force One, the plane that carries presidents around the globe. The government has contracted with Boeing to build two or more new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump wouldn’t fly on the new planes unless he pursued and won a second term. But the Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape. The contract for...

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday ripped Boeing for the cost of a new Air Force One plane, calling for the contract to be cancelled. "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!" Trump tweeted.

2m2 minutes ago...@realDonaldTrump feed: 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!