Trump summons Boeing chief over Air Force One presidential jumbo jet

The US president-elect has previously threatened to scrap Boing's plans for a new Air Force One 747 and has now called a meeting with its chief to discuss the matter.

The Air Force One jumbo jet at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. President-elect Donald Trump has called a meeting with Boeing's chief to discuss the future of the presidential jet programme. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Boeing said its chief executive will meet with Donald Trump later today, at the US president-elect’s request, to discuss its Air Force One presidential jumbo jet based on the Boeing 747 airliner and possibly a fighter jet sale.

Mr Trump called the meeting at Trump Tower in New York after he pressured the Chicago-based aerospace and defence company last month to lower prices on Air Force One and to price a contract with Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet to compete with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter.

Boeing is ready to discuss the fighter jet and Air Force One, “but this is the president-elect’s meeting”, said Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher. “He and his team will determine the agenda.”

Mr Trump met the Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg on December 21, and posted a Twitter message the next day saying he had asked Boeing to offer its older-generation aircraft as a possible alternative to the F-35.

He had previously threatened to cancel Boeing’s Air Force One presidential aircraft sale, saying the price was too high, and extracted a pledge from Boeing to keep the cost of the programme under US$4 billion.

* Reuters

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