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The Air Force One delay is Boeing’s latest setback

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Air Force One is a well-known symbol of American power, but the popularity that the presidential plane creates for its manufacturer Boeing it is reducing Texas ’legal rumors and the possibility for U.S. taxpayers to delay and incur higher costs.

Boeing has told the U.S. Air Force it expects a one-year delay in delivering a pair of 747-8-shaped aircraft. Each three-level aircraft will be upgraded with a presidential office, a health department that can serve as an operating room, and two losses to feed 100 passengers.

Boeing has also asked the Air Force more money. The contract to rebuild the aircraft is worth $ 3.9 billion, down from $ 5 billion, after former President Donald Trump attacked the top figure for being “ridiculous”.

Meanwhile, Boeing and GDC Technics are suing supplier failures in San Antonio, Texas court over who is to blame for the delay.

The program replaces part of Boeing’s top line, which reached $ 58 billion in 2020. However, it concerns some analysts because it is another black eye for other problems ranging from the smallest problem to the catastrophe: the debris left in the USAF’s KC-46 shipyards. , Starliner crew capsule failed to reach International Space Station, 787 shipments stopped and two accidents 737 Maximum which brought together 346 people.

The Air Force One problems “create a general impression of serious shortcomings in the management and execution of the Boeing program, both in commercial and military businesses,” said analyst Richard Aboulafia Teal.

“They’re on top of each other, on top of each other,” added Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein. “That’s the problem, not Air Force One in itself. It’s another reflection…. It really makes you question what’s going on in their engineering organization.”

A spokesman for Boeing said the company had assembled 50,000 engineers to unify security responsibility in the company’s sole function, and in January appointed him chief aerospace safety officer. He added that the KC-46 has flown more than 4,000 flights so far. Nasa and Boeing have successfully tested Starliner’s software for a second attempt to reach the ISS, and Max receives orders.

Although reputable projects rarely make a profit, they do burn the company’s reputation. The Air Force One call symbol can technically be applied to any aircraft carrying a U.S. president, but it refers to a specially dressed aircraft that has had the president’s stamp and American flag on it since the 1960s.

Boeing 747-200B to transport two aircraft President Joe Biden They have a space of 4,000 square meters, can fuel in the air and have hardened internal electronics to protect against interruptions caused by electromagnetic pulses. The communications equipment was built to function as a mobile command center for the aircraft to be attacked in the US.

The first of the current Air Force One aircraft was introduced in 1990. The replacement aircraft are 747-8s, which were sitting on a “bird ship” that was on a plane in the Mojave Desert, which is now defunct by the now defunct Russian airline Transaero. They are being renovated in San Antonio, Texas.

Boeing contracted with GDC to design and build the new jet interior, as well as to maintain the current Air Force One aircraft. (The programs are known as VC-25B and VC-25A, respectively.) On April 7, Boeing filed a lawsuit with GDC in a state court alleging that the contractor withdrew from the production schedule because it did not meet design specifications and, despite financial support from Boeing, other suppliers and the staff lacked enough money to pay.

“GDC ‘s precarious situation continues to plague Boeing [US Air Force] endangered VC-25A and VC-25B customers, “the lawsuit said.” Boeing was left with no choice but to cancel the VC-25B and VC-25A subcontractors. “

The company’s “failures have caused millions of dollars in damage,” Boeing said, and asked GDC to return the parts, tools, drawings, raw materials and subcontracts. The list of items the aerospace manufacturer wants is 11 pages long and contains 25 liters of “Spa White” paint.

The GDC ruled against it nine days later. In the lawsuit, the company said Boeing was suspending the contract because of GDC’s bankruptcy, and the manufacturer “did not report to the U.S. Air Force that GDC’s financial problems significantly violated Boeing’s contracts with GDC.”

The supplier’s financial stress comes from Boeing paying more than $ 20 million, according to the GDC lawsuit. The company said Boeing was willing to return the material after payment, but the manufacturer refused.

In the GDC case, Boeing also said it had mismanaged the Air Force One program. He said GDC informed the Chicago-based company before Boeing sued, “The VC-25B program in its entirety has been monitoring the contract schedule for more than 18 months and is currently awaiting BoD’s revised GDC schedule. GDC cannot be forced to to comply with its schedule “.

“Due to problems with engineering, program management and financial difficulties, Boeing has lagged behind in the aircraft project calendar,” the lawsuit said. “Boeing looked at GDC as a lookout.”

The GDC filed for bankruptcy protection in Chapter 11 on April 26 and laid off 223 employees.

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