Boeing just added another $280 million to its already staggering losses on the new Air Force One program, pushing total cost overruns past $3 billion on a contract the company signed for $3.9 billion.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg disclosed the latest financial hit during a Tuesday earnings call, attributing the charge to a decision to pour additional resources into building and testing the two presidential aircraft. The company now expects to deliver the first plane in mid-2028 and the second in mid-2029, roughly three and a half years behind the original December 2024 deadline. Under the fixed-price contract signed in 2018, Boeing absorbs every dollar of those overruns, not the taxpayer.
The numbers tell a blunt story. A contract worth $3.9 billion has generated more than $3 billion in losses for Boeing, meaning the company has nearly doubled its own costs on a project it bid aggressively to win. The New York Post reported that Boeing's previously disclosed overruns stood at $2.8 billion through 2024, per Aviation Week. The latest $280 million charge pushes the total well beyond that mark.
Nearly three years behind schedule, and the GAO noticed
A Government Accountability Office report released earlier this month found Boeing is "almost 3 years behind its current baseline schedule" on the VC-25B program, the military designation for the new Air Force One jets. The original plan called for two custom-built military versions of the Boeing 747 to replace the pair of 747-200 jumbo jets that have served as presidential aircraft since the 1990s.
Those aging planes remain in service today because Boeing cannot deliver their replacements. President Trump has used a $400 million Boeing 747 donated by Qatar as the presidential plane in the interim. That jet was taken out of service earlier this month for upgrades to its anti-missile defenses.
Ortberg framed the latest charge as an investment in meeting the revised timeline, not a sign of deeper trouble. He told analysts on the call:
"While the charge is disappointing, we recognize how critical schedule performance is to our customer and we are investing accordingly to maintain our commitment to deliver the airplane in 2028."
He added that the new resources would "help mitigate potential risk during certification and flight test." In separate remarks reported by Newsmax, Ortberg struck a more optimistic note, saying the program had cleared its design phase: "The good news is that we're through the design phase of that program, and now we're modifying and testing the airplanes."
$428 million quarterly loss, more than double expectations
The Air Force One overrun was the single largest drag on Boeing's second-quarter results. Breitbart reported that Boeing posted a $428 million loss for the quarter, more than double what analysts had expected. The $280 million VC-25B charge accounted for the bulk of that shortfall.
Ortberg tried to separate the Air Force One pain from the rest of Boeing's operations, telling investors he was "very pleased with the progress our team is making" on other programs and that "key certification programs remain on plan." But for a company still rebuilding its reputation after years of safety scandals and production failures, another nine-figure write-down on the most visible aircraft program in the world does nothing to inspire confidence.
The contract structure matters. When Trump signed the $3.9 billion deal in 2018, the fixed-price terms meant Boeing, not American taxpayers, would eat any cost growth. That provision has functioned exactly as intended. Every dollar past $3.9 billion comes out of Boeing's pocket. The company bid low to win the contract, and it has been paying for that decision ever since.
Trump debuted the Qatar jet on July 1 as Boeing delays dragged on
The Washington Examiner noted that Trump debuted the Qatar-donated 747 on July 1, 2025, a direct consequence of Boeing's inability to deliver the planes it promised. The Qatari aircraft, valued at $400 million, has served as a stopgap, but it has raised its own questions about security and logistics.
The Secret Service has had to manage security complications involving the Qatari jet during overseas travel, and the aircraft was recently pulled from service for anti-missile upgrades. None of this would be necessary if Boeing had met its original delivery schedule.
Meanwhile, the administration has moved forward with cosmetic changes to the presidential fleet. Trump fulfilled a long-promised redesign of Air Force One's paint scheme, replacing the iconic Kennedy-era blue and white with a dark blue, gold, and red livery, a change that will apply to the new planes whenever Boeing finally delivers them.
Boeing bid low, and the bill keeps growing
The Air Force One program has become a case study in what happens when a defense contractor underbids a fixed-price contract and then cannot execute. Boeing won the deal in part because Trump personally pressured the company to bring down costs. The $3.9 billion price was already considered aggressive for two heavily customized 747s outfitted with military-grade communications, defensive systems, and the infrastructure needed to serve as an airborne command center.
Eight years later, Boeing has spent nearly $7 billion on a $3.9 billion job, and still has not delivered a single aircraft. The GAO's finding that the program runs almost three years late only confirms what the financial disclosures already showed: Boeing badly misjudged the scope and difficulty of the work.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from the Post. The Air Force and Department of Defense have not publicly weighed in on the latest overrun disclosure. Those silences leave open questions about whether the government has any leverage to accelerate delivery beyond relying on Boeing's own promises.
National security concerns around the presidential aircraft have also drawn scrutiny from other quarters. The DOJ recently subpoenaed reporters over a leak involving Air Force One security details, a reminder that delays and workarounds carry risks beyond the balance sheet.
Ortberg says Boeing will deliver the first plane in 2028. The company said the same kind of thing about 2024. Taxpayers are protected by the contract, but the country's commander-in-chief is still flying on 30-year-old aircraft, and that is a problem no quarterly earnings call can fix.
