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. JonathanShow more

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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