Originally Posted by
tdracer
Boeing lost a boatload of money on the current AF1 aircraft - fixed price contract for less than $400 million (two aircraft), actual costs over a $Billion (in 1980's money).
Before I retired, I started getting phone calls asking me questions regarding the new AF1 747s - questions I couldn't answer because I didn't know what was going into the new aircraft. So a requested and received a confidential briefing on the new aircraft so I could accurately respond to the incoming queries.
The amount of gold plating going into those two aircraft was stunning - far above what went into the current AF1. I obviously can't go into details, but I honestly wondered if the USAF had a plan for a militarized 747 and was using the AF1 program to finance the development costs.
The militarized 747-8 obviously didn't happen, but I don't know if that's because my theory was wrong, or if it just didn't work out as planned...
I wonder if #45 had anything to do with that…