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Air Force One is a recognized symbol of American power, but the prestige that the presidential plane brings to its manufacturers Boeing This situation is decreasing due to legal disputes in Texas and the prospect of delays and increased costs for American taxpayers.
Boeing told the U.S. Air Force that the delivery of the modified 747-8 aircraft is expected to be delayed by one year. Each three-story aircraft will be equipped with a presidential office, a medical suite that can be used as an operating room, and two galleys that can accommodate 100 passengers.
Boeing also asked the Air Force to provide More moneyAfter former President Donald Trump criticized the higher numbers as “ridiculous”, the contract for the modification of the aircraft was US$3.9 billion, which is less than US$5 billion.
Meanwhile, Boeing and the bankrupt supplier GDC Technics are suing each other in a court in San Antonio, Texas, to determine who is responsible for the delay.
The plan represents only a small portion of Boeing’s total revenue of $58 billion in 2020.However, it worries some analysts because it is another dark circle in a series of problems: a series of problems ranging from minor to catastrophic: debris left in the U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker, failure to reach the International Space Station Starliner crew cabin, stopped 787 deliveries, and two crashes 737 max A total of 346 people died.
Teal analyst Richard Aboulafia said that the Air Force One issue resulted in “the overall impression that Boeing has serious project management and execution flaws in its commercial and military operations.”
Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein added: “This is a stack, a stack.” “This is the problem, not the Air Force One itself. This is another exploration… This really makes you question. What is happening in their engineering organization.”
A Boeing spokeswoman said that the company has pooled 50,000 engineers into a single function within the company to unify safety responsibilities and appointed a chief aviation safety officer in January. She added that so far, KC-46 has flown more than 4,000 times for the Air Force, NASA and Boeing have successfully tested Starliner’s software for a second attempt to reach the International Space Station, and Max is accepting orders.
Although prestige projects rarely bring profits, they do enhance the company’s reputation. Technically, the Air Force One call sign applies to any aircraft carrying the President of the United States, but since the 1960s it refers to a specially equipped jet aircraft with the presidential seal and the American flag printed on it.
Two Boeing 747-200B jets transported President Joe Biden With 4,000 square feet of space, you can refuel in the air, and strengthen the onboard electronic equipment to prevent electromagnetic pulse interference. The construction of communication equipment allows the aircraft to act as a mobile command center when the United States is under attack.
The current first Air Force One jet entered service in 1990. The replacement aircraft are the 747-8s owed by the now-defunct Russian airline Transaero, which are parked in the “cemetery” of the aircraft in the Mojave Desert. They are being refurbished in San Antonio, Texas.
Boeing signed a contract with GDC to design and build new interiors for these jets, as well as to maintain the existing Air Force One aircraft. (These projects are called VC-25B and VC-25A, respectively.) On April 7, Boeing sued GDC in a state court, claiming that the contractor was behind in the production plan and failed to meet the design specifications, despite providing financial assistance from Boeing lacks sufficient cash to pay other suppliers and employees.
“The precarious situation of GDC continues to make Boeing [US Air Force] Customers of VC-25A and VC-25B are at risk,” the lawsuit said. “Therefore, Boeing has no choice but to cancel the subcontracts of VC-25B and VC-25A. “
Boeing stated that the company’s “failure has caused millions of dollars in losses” and required GDC to return parts, tools, drawings, raw materials and subcontractors. The list of items that the aerospace manufacturer wanted to return was 11 pages long and included 25 gallons of “Spa White” paint.
Nine days later, GDC filed a counterclaim. The company stated in the lawsuit that although Boeing claimed to terminate the contract due to GDC’s bankruptcy, the manufacturer “failed to notify the U.S. Air Force that GDC’s financial problems were mainly caused by Boeing’s breach of its contract with GDC.”
The GDC lawsuit alleges that the supplier’s financial pressure stems from Boeing’s debt of more than $20 million. The company expressed its willingness to return the materials after Boeing paid for it, but the manufacturer refused.
The GDC lawsuit also alleges that Boeing had mismanaged the Air Force One project. It stated that before Boeing sued, GDC notified the Chicago-based company that “the VC-25B project as a whole has not tracked the contract timetable for more than 18 months, and GDC is currently waiting for Boeing to revise the timetable. GDC does not Obligation to follow a timetable that it does not have.”
The lawsuit stated: “Due to engineering and project management problems and its own financial difficulties, Boeing has fallen behind in the progress of the aircraft project.” “Boeing regards GDC as a scapegoat.”
GDC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 26 and fired 223 employees.
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