How Much Does Air Force One, Presidential Aircraft, Cost To Operate?

In December last year, the then president-elect Donald Trump tweeted that the costs of the new Air Force One planes Boeing were building were “out of control” and called for the order to be canceled.

Trump was wrong about Boeing building "a brand new 747 Air Force One" and costs being "more than $4 billion," as the U.S. Air Force had only awarded a $170 million contract to Boeing to design Air Force One planes.

At that time, the Air Force was planning to buy two new jetliners to replace the Boeing 747-200s that have served presidents since George H.W. Bush, but was yet to place orders.

Now the Air Force has found a way to make Trump feel he has got a “good deal” by planning to buy a pair of Boeing 747s abandoned by a bankrupt Russian airline and now housed at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California.

Read: How Much Does Air Force One Cost To Make?

Though the Air Force is not expected to release the contract value, officials said they are getting a "good deal" on the planes, which are, on average, listed at $386.8 million each, according to Defense One, a defense and national security website.

“ We’re working through the final stages of coordination to purchase two commercial 747-8 aircraft and expect to award a contract soon,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in a statement.

However, turning a standard 747 into an Air Force One takes quite a bit of customization.

The $170 million contract given to Boeing to design the next Air Force One planes includes equipping it to stay aloft and connected during a nuclear war.

Apart from the customized conference rooms, offices and seating for White House staff, guests and journalists, the presidential aircraft needs to have these additional features:

• Midair refueling capability
• Missile defense systems
• Electronic countermeasure defense systems
• An operating room
• Ability to withstand the electromagnetic pulse emitted from a nuclear detonation
• A communications set-up to manage a wartime crisis from anywhere in the world.

So how much money does it take to keep this flying White House operational?

According to records accessed by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, the answer is $142,380 per flying hour. According to analysts, it costs just $20,000 to $25,000 per flying hour for an airline to operate a commercial 747.

Records released by the Air Force to Judicial Watch reflected the costs for nine hours of travel by Trump over two weekends in February and March, Foxtrot Alpha reported.

From Feb. 3 to Feb. 6, the presidential plane was airborne for 4.7 hours, at a cost of roughly $669,000. A month later, the plane flew 4.3 hours, for a total of $612,234.

The group also tracked former President Barack Obama’s travel during his tenure. According to records, Obama racked up $97 million in travel costs over his two terms in office.

The Air Force told Judicial Watch the flying costs “includes fuel, flight consumables, aircraft overhaul, and engine overhaul.”

However, these costs don’t include the cost to transport the presidential limousines, affectionately known as "The Beast", which are transported to the president’s destination in advance in a fleet of Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes. The president also has the option of flying on the Marine One, the call sign for the presidential helicopter, after getting off Air Force One.

Read: Boeing 747-8 Selected By Pentagon To Serve As Air Force One

Obama had initiated the decision to replace the two VC-25 aircraft that currently serve as Air Force One, and set aside money for the purpose in his 2016 budget.

According to the Pentagon’s 2018 budget request sent to the Congress in February, the Air Force plans to spend nearly $3.2 billion between 2018 and 2022 to acquire and operate the new jets.