The next U.S. presidential aircraft will be a Boeing 747-8, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
Air Force One, as the plane that carries the president is known, started as a Boeing aircraft when Eisenhower brought presidential travel into the jet age.
The current presidential fleet consists of two customized Boeing VC-25s, which are expected to be retired in 2017. Whichever plane carries the president is known as Air Force One at that time, and that is sometimes a plane other than those two craft.
“The presidential aircraft is one of the most visible symbols of the United States of America and the office of the president of the United States,” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said Wednesday. “The Boeing 747-8 is the only aircraft manufactured in the United States [that] meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the presidential support mission, while reflecting the office of the president of the United States of America consistent with the national public interest.”
Although the Boeing 747-8 is flown by major commercial airlines, the president's version will be far from ordinary.
Important to remember that the 747-8s produced as the new AIr Force One will not be an ordinary 747-8. These are highly customized aircraft— Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) January 28, 2015
While James commended the current fleet of presidential aircraft, she said it was "time to upgrade."
"Parts obsolescence, diminishing manufacturing sources and increased down times for maintenance are existing challenges that will increase until a new aircraft is fielded," she said. "The Air Force provides the president with safe and reliable air transportation with high levels of security and communication capability as the alternate airborne White House."
The next aircraft will be expected to have a 30-year life cycle. Wednesday's announcement means the government will begin discussing a possible contract with Boeing to build and customize new planes. The Air Force announced in 2014 that the budget for two new planes would be $1.65 billion between 2015 and 2019.
Although the Air Force had also been considering an Airbus A380, the presidential aircraft is currently a Boeing, making the decision less than surprising.
The next Air Force One will be @Boeing's 747-8, not @Airbus' A380 (no huge surprise, I guess) http://t.co/EkT2MW53DA pic.twitter.com/Ln4xDia2ay— Jeremy Levine (@Jeremy10036) January 28, 2015
The first U.S. president to fly in an aircraft was Theodore Roosevelt -- although he was no longer president when he made the flight in the Wright plane: