Dave Calhoun spoke candidly about the company’s huge loss from the conversion of two 747s for the White House into a quarterly profit call on Wednesday. “I would call Air Force One a very unique moment, a very unique deal, a very unique set of risks that Boeing probably should not have taken,” Calhoun said. “But we are where we are and we will deliver great planes. And we will recognize the costs associated with that. “ The former president, who owned private jets and even an airline throughout his career, was personally involved in negotiations to replace Air Force One. And it made the company agree to a fixed-price contract, with Boeing not covering US taxpayers any excessive costs for converting the two aircraft. Dennis Muilenburg, who personally negotiated the deal with Mr. Trump, was fired as Boeing CEO in 2019. The Air Force budget proposal for fiscal 2019 estimated the cost of the planes at $ 4 billion, while Mr. Trump claimed he had saved $ 1 billion for the White House under the deal. Mr. Trump had criticized an existing deal while he was still president-elect, writing on Twitter “Order Cancellation” in December 2016 before taking office. Last September, Boeing launched an investigation after two empty bottles of tequila were found on one of the planes turned into a Boeing facility in San Antonio, Texas. The planes were originally scheduled to be delivered in 2024, but Boeing was forced to delay that date until 2025, citing delays related to the pandemic and the dismissal of a subcontractor. Boeing also said it delayed the introduction of the 777X passenger jey until 2025, with a net loss of $ 1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The company intended to deliver the 777X to customers by the end of 2023.
