Boeing lost $1.1 billion on Trump Air Force One contract; CEO regrets deal
Donald Trump had bragged his deal with Boeing for the Air Force One program would save taxpayers more than a billion dollars. It's cost Boeing more than that.
Boeing disclosed Wednesday that it has lost a whopping $1.1 billion in costs related to its deal with the Trump administration to modify two 747 jumbo jets to serve as Air Force One — and CEO Dave Calhoun admitted the aviation giant “probably” should not have cut the deal in the first place.
Even more losses on the Air Force One contract could be coming in future quarters, Boeing warned in a regulatory filing.
Air Force One is the official designation for any plane carrying the president of the United States.
“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 on a call with analysts.
“But we are where we are, and we’re going to deliver great airplanes,” Calhoun said, shortly after Boeing reported a loss for the first quarter of 2022.
It requires Boeing, not the federal government, to eat any overruns in the cost of modifying the two Boeing 747 jets.
Under that fixed-price contract, Boeing is being paid about $4 billion for the work. The first of the two planes was set to be delivered in 2024, but an Air Force budget proposal from earlier this month doesn’t expect that until 2026.
Trump in 2018 bragged that “Boeing gave us a good deal. And we were able to take that.” 😆
