Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg stated Tuesday that the company is collaborating with Trump advisor Elon Musk on methods to deliver delayed and overbudget Air Force One aircraft sooner.
The firm has blamed design revisions, personnel shortages, and supply chain issues for the two Boeing 747s that would be the new Air Force One aircraft being more than $2 billion over budget and years behind schedule. Before taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump complained about the exorbitant costs and threatened to cancel the order. However, he managed to strike a deal for the aircraft during his first term.
In an interview with CNBC’s Phil Lebeau on Squawk on the Street on Tuesday, following the release of Boeing’s full-year results and its 2025 outlook, Ortberg stated, “We’ve been engaged with Elon on the Air Force One program to eliminate costs and deliver the aircraft earlier.”
Whether the plane will be delivered before Trump’s current term ends is uncertain. An new Boeing delivery timeline is anticipated in the spring, an Air Force spokesperson told CNBC.
At his inaugural ball on January 20, Trump cut a cake with a sword and a model of Air Force One with a new paint job.
In recent months, Musk and Trump have collaborated extensively. Musk’s company, SpaceX, is in competition with Boeing’s space division. The billionaire is also in charge of Trump’s panel, which he appointed to cut government expenditures.
Neither Musk nor the White House responded right away.
“We’re working with Elon to see what we can do to pull up the schedule of those programs because the president wants those planes sooner,” Ortberg stated.
Pretax charges for Boeing’s defense and space division, which includes the Air Force One program, totaled $1.7 billion in the most recent quarter. In September, Ortberg, who took over as CEO in August, replaced the company’s head with an internal interim leader.
More from CNBC:
-
Elon Musk s X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal
-
GM beats Wall Street estimates, forecasts another strong year in 2025
-
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Gov for U.S. government agencies