- As the delivery of the president’s new Air Force One has been delayed, Boeing has sued the supplier outfitting the new Air Force One, GDC Technics, claiming they have missed numerous work deadlines
- The first Airforce One being outfitted in a 747-8, is due to be delivered in 2024
- Industry insiders say Boeing might choose to install the plane’s interior themselves or again hire a contractor
CHICAGO, Illinois: The president’s new Air Force One will be delayed in being delivered.
Boeing has sued the supplier outfitting the new Air Force One, GDC Technics, claiming they have missed numerous work deadlines.
The first Airforce One being outfitted in a 747-8, is due to be delivered in 2024.
The delay was confirmed this week by a senior Air Force general.
“We’re going to obviously have to look at the schedule [and] we have to look at it pragmatically. Boeing is working hard, they’ve got another supplier identified, we’re going to transfer as much of the work on the interiors as possible,” said Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, the Air Force military deputy for acquisition, as quoted by Simply Flying.
GDC Technics, which is installing the customized interior, is alleged to have missed numerous deadlines.
In April, Boeing sued GDC for the delays, which it said “have resulted in millions of dollars in damages to Boeing and threaten to jeopardize work that is of critical importance to the (U.S. Air Force) and the president of the United States.”
At the time, however, Boeing said it could still meet the deadline for delivering the new Air Force One.
Richardson has praised Boeing for keeping the Air Force well informed about the delays. Industry insiders say Boeing might choose to install the plane’s interior themselves or again hire a contractor.
“We’ve already made a lot of decisions on the interior, but there’s a whole lot of work left to go. But I’m very confident in the transparency that Boeing has given us, in terms of what happened and what they are doing to fix it,” noted Richardson.
For its part, GDC Technics has counter-sued, claiming Boeing’s own mismanagement of the project caused the delays.
GDC said that Boeing had failed to pay it for work delivered earlier. Meanwhile, at the end of April GDC filed for bankruptcy protection, claiming this was caused by Boeing holding up some $20 million in payments.
