Dennis Muilenburg: Boeing Aims to Build Next Air Force One Fleet for Less Than $4B

Dennis Muilenburg, chairman, president and CEO of Boeing, has said the company aims to work with the incoming administration to ensure that the production cost for the next pair of presidential aircraft will not exceed $4 billion, The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday.

Jessie Hillman writes Muilenberg made the remarks after he met with President-elect Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss the Air Force One  replacement effort.

The U.S. Air Force announced its selection of Boeing’s 747-8 platform as a basis for the next presidential plane in January and awarded the company a contract in February to help the military branch identify risk reduction strategies for the program.

Trump raised concerns over Air Force One and F-35 production deals via his Twitter account, according to a report by Defense News’ Aaron Mehta.

“We work on Air Force One because it’s important to our country and we’re going to make sure that he gets the best capability and that it’s done affordably,” Muilenberg said.

Mehta reported Trump also began discussions with Lockheed Martin regarding the F-35 program.