Boeing 737 is located on the ground in Renton, Washington.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
President Donald Trump recently expressed his frustration over a pair of long waits Boeing 747 serves as one plane in the new Air Force.
The Jet is years behind schedule. Trump negotiated a $4 billion contract for the aircraft during his first term, but it is not clear whether he will be ready during his current term. Cost overruns have so far exceeded $2 billion.
Trump adviser Elon Musk is working with Boeing in the hopes of delivering the aircraft faster, manufacturer chief executive Kelly Autoberg repeated Thursday.
“The president is clearly not happy with the timing of the delivery. I think he’s well known about it,” Autoberg told the Barclays Industry Council. “Elon Musk actually makes it a great help to work through our requirements… To keep unworthy constraints out of the way, we move faster and make the president a better place. It’s to help us deliver it.”
Ortberg is called Musk, CEO of SpaceX. Musk competes with Boeing’s defense and space units. This is a “great guy” who can “see the difference between technical requirements and things that don’t get in the way pretty quickly”.
On board one of the current President 747, Trump told reporters Wednesday that he was considering alternatives.
“We might buy a plane, or we might get an airplane or something like that,” he said. Trump toured the 747 parked at Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport over the weekend, the outlet reported.
First Lady Melania Trump saves US President Donald Trump to express his new Air Force 1 design cake during the Commander’s inauguration ball held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. I laugh when I watch it cut. January 20th, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Frustration is nothing new for Boeing airline customers who faced long delays in aircraft, just as the post-pandemic travel boom had been in steady. Blowing out mostly catastrophic door plugs in January 2024 led to Boeing’s delivery even slower, prompting a change in leadership.
Now, some customers are growing brighter. An executive told CNBC it appears that the manufacturer has turned the corner under Ortberg, where the makers were at the helm in August.
“Boeing is doing a very miraculous job of turning around and becoming more reliable as a supplier,” United Airlines CFO Mike Leskine told the same Barclays meeting on Wednesday. “Our confidence that our biggest aircraft will be delivered on schedule has been greater than ever during my tenure at United Airlines.”
Bob Jordan, CEO of All-Boeing 737 Carrier Southwest Airlines“They still have a lot to do, but they seem to be on a good path and we feel more optimistic,” he said in a revenue call on January 30th.
At the Barclays meeting on Thursday, Boeing’s Autoberg said there was no supply chain issue that would prevent manufacturers from increasing production of their best-selling Cashkow 737 to 38 in the coming months.