Qatari jet-turned-Air Force One expected to be delivered this summer, Air Force says
By Haley Britzky, CNN
(CNN) — The luxury Qatari jet being transformed into a new Air Force One will be delivered this summer, the Air Force said in a statement, roughly a year after its extensive modification began.
“The Air Force remains committed to expediting delivery of the VC-25 bridge aircraft in support of the Presidential airlift mission, with an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026,” an Air Force spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.
It’s unclear if the plane will be immediately operational once it is delivered, or if more testing would need to be conducted before it is fit to fly for the president. The Wall Street Journal first reported the delivery date of this summer.
The Air Force has not previously provided a firm timeline for the project, though President Donald Trump said last year the plane could be ready to use by February 2026— an ambitious timeline given the substantial work needed to be done on the aircraft to make it a suitable to operate as Air Force One.
The US began converting the jet last year, though details related to the modification are largely classified.
The Boeing 747 aircraft — a “gift” donated by Qatar, Trump said last year — would need to undergo considerable changes in order to address intelligence and security risks. CNN previously reported it would need to be stripped down to its frame by US agencies, and rebuilt with necessary communications and security equipment.
“You would want to check the airplane out completely – strip it down, check for bugs, things like that, harden it to make sure nobody could hijack the electronics on the airplane … The ability for the president to command and control his military in the worst days, that takes a lot,” a retired senior military official familiar with Air Force One previously told CNN.
Other features like the ability to refuel mid-air, for example, are not standard for conventional 747 aircraft, but would be a necessary capability if the president wanted to remain airborne in the instance of a major emergency.
The Air Force spokesperson on Thursday said the service was working with “other government entities to ensure proper security measures and function-mission requirements are considered” for the aircraft.
An agreement signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart last year said the donation of the plane was “unconditional” and confirmed the US would not pay anything to Qatar. Still, the US was expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars converting the aircraft.
The project was expected to cost “probably less than $400 million,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers last year.
Boeing has also been working to renovate two of its 747 jets to serve as the next generation Air Force One, but the process has dragged on years longer than originally planned, at a huge cost to the company.
The company and Air Force signed a deal in 2018 to provide the new jets for a total of $3.9 billion, with the expectation they would be done by 2024. Work began on the jets with the stripping out of their commercial interiors in 2019.
But delays and cost-overruns have cost Boeing more than $2.3 billion, according to company financial reports. And a firm date of when they will be done is not yet know, but it won’t be before next year at the earliest. Boeing referred a question Wednesday on the timing for the new jets to the Air Force.
Earlier this week an electrical issue forced Trump’s Europe-bound plane to turn back to Joint Base Andrews.
To resume his trip to Switzerland, the president switched Tuesday to a Boeing C-32A, which is often used by the first lady or Cabinet members
CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed reporting.
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