Air Force One slips again, and the cracks behind it

A Pentagon report released on 3 August 2026 finds the cabin design for the VC-25B — the pair of 747-8s being converted into the next Air Force One — still behind schedule, held up by unresolved technical and certification issues.

Boeing said in July that it still expects to deliver the first aircraft in 2028. It recorded a further $280 million loss on the programme in the second quarter, having added production and certification resources to try to protect the schedule.

The airframe repairs

The detail in the report that will interest anyone following the aircraft rather than the contract is the structural work.

The report notes stringer cracking on the airframes, and states that as of April 2026 there were 95 repairs outstanding on the first aircraft and 142 on the second.

Stringers are the longitudinal stiffeners running along the inside of the fuselage skin, carrying bending loads and stabilising the skin against buckling. They are routine structure — but they are also structure, and repairing them on an aircraft that must then be certified to carry a head of state is not quick work.

Why this programme is hard

It is worth being fair about the scale of what is being attempted. A VC-25 is not a 747 with a nicer interior. The existing VC-25A pair are flying command posts: hardened communications, defensive systems, medical facilities, and the ability to operate independently of ground support for extended periods.

Doing that to two second-hand 747-8s — originally built for an airline order that fell through — while the type is out of production and the supply chain has moved on, was never going to be straightforward.

The interim aircraft

This is the context for the Qatari 747-8 brought into service as an interim Air Force One earlier this year. The VC-25As date from 1990 and are 747-200 airframes; the replacement is now at least two years out.

Related

• The VC-25B and the Qatar 747-8
• The VC-25A
• Government and VIP 747s