Did Boeing get fleeced by former President Donald Trump?
In a Wednesday call with investors, Dave Calhoun, the CEO of the airplane manufacturer, said the company’s Air Force One contract will result in a staggering loss of $660 million.
The deal, inked in 2018 after Trump got personally involved, protected the U.S. government from cost overruns.
“Air Force One I’m just going to call a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation, a very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken,” Calhoun said. “But we are where we are, and we’re going to deliver great airplanes.”
Defense One reports:
In February 2018, the Air Force signed a nearly $4 billion deal with Boeing to convert two 747-8 airliners into a VIP configuration with conference rooms, sleeping quarters, communications gear, and amenities that allow the president to work as if he were at the White House. Along with other costs related to building the planes—for instance, a new hangar complex at Joint Base Andrews just outside of Washington—the Air Force One program is expected to cost taxpayers $5.3 billion.
When the deal was finalized, the White House claimed Trump’s negotiations saved taxpayers $1.4 billion. Boeing’s struggles to build the new planes might in fact save taxpayers more than that when the planes are finally delivered.
Company officials say their problems include a dispute with a subcontractor and the kind of coronavirus-related supply-chain and workforce issues being experienced across the defense and aerospace sector. Boeing blamed the most recent $660 million loss on “higher supplier costs, higher costs to finalize technical requirements and schedule delays.”
