U.S. President Donald Trump is not happy with Boeing (BA) over a contract to build two new Air Force One planes. Speaking to reporters aboard one of the three-decades-old Boeing 747-200 aircraft in current use by the Commander-in-Chief, Trump said, “We’re looking at alternatives, because it’s taking Boeing too long.”
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The contract for two new aircraft based on the newer Boeing 747-8 was agreed during Trump’s first term and is at least three years behind schedule. “I’m not happy with Boeing. It takes them a long time to do, you know, Air Force One, we gave that contract out a long time ago,” Trump added.
But before Airbus (EADSF) gets excited, Trump was quick to scotch the idea that the White House could look to Boeing’s major European rival for a plane. “I would not consider Airbus,” he said. Trump suggested he could go buy a plane from another country and then “convert it.”
Air Force One is Boeing’s Albatross
The comments from Trump come only a few days after he visited a 13-year-old Boeing 747-800, previously owned by the Qatari royal family, while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport, in a move seen as highligting the Boeing delays.
The two new Air Force One aircraft had been expected to be delivered in December 2024, but the timeline has been pushed back to at least 2027.
For Boeing it’s not the delivery of the planes but the unusual modifications required to make them suitable for the president, although Trump dropped the requirement for the new planes to be capable of air-to-air refueling like their predecessors.
Trump renegotiated the contract during his first term after heavily criticizing the existing deal. He won a promise from then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg to cap costs at $4 billion, a decision which it’s thought has cost Boeing more than $2 billion.
Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?
On Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 13 Buys, five Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months. The average BA price target of $196.88 per share implies over 5% upside potential.
