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.” Read more...
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