Air Force One isn't a regular airliner with VIP seating. It's a hardened, classified, and highly customized command center built into a plane. That means whoever builds it needs top-level access to sensitive military systems and intel (despite President Donald Trump being open to slacking off on security clearances if it gets him a new plane faster). Boeing, based in the U.S., already has that infrastructure in place. Airbus doesn't, and never will, under current laws. U.S. defense protocols restrict sharing certain technologies with foreign companies, even allies. That's why Airbus has never been a serious contender.
Trump himself made it clear, telling the BBC that even though he's frustrated with Boeing's delays and cost overruns, "I would not consider Airbus." Instead, the U.S. will refurbish a used Qatari 747 given as a gift to be a stopgap Air Force One at a cost that may hit $1 billion, and a timetable of a year or two. But switching to Airbus would delay the program even further, maybe by years. That's a logistical and legal nightmare.
Even Boeing is struggling to meet the specs of two new Air Force Ones it's under contract to build. The Air Force is still modifying requirements in the hopes that the company can hit a 2027 delivery target. If the U.S. can't get Boeing — a domestic company with decades of experience — to stay on track, it's hard to imagine handing the job to Airbus.
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The Pentagon's Roots With Boeing Run Too Deep To Pull Out
There's also institutional inertia. Boeing has been building military aircraft for the U.S. for decades. The Air Force relies on the company for everything from the B-52 to the KC-46. The current Air Force One fleet (VC-25A) is a pair of Boeing 747-200s, and the replacement VC-25B is based on the 747-8i. That history matters for maintenance, training, parts sourcing, and long-term logistics.
L3Harris, the defense contractor now tasked with overhauling the Qatari 747 for temporary presidential use, is a Boeing partner in other projects. That tells you something. Even when the U.S. steps away from Boeing directly, it still chooses vendors already inside Boeing's orbit.
Sure, Airbus makes great planes. But building Air Force One is about more than flight range or seat count. It's about building a secure platform for nuclear-level decision-making. The Department of Defense needs a vendor it already knows can handle it. And Boeing, for all its recent stumbles, is still the most viable (and trusted) choice.
Politics, Optics, And The America First Factor
If the optics of riding in a 35-year-old 747 bother Trump, imagine the headlines if he flew an Airbus. "America First" isn't just a slogan. It drives decisions like this. Airbus is a European company with deep ties to governments across the EU. For any U.S. president, especially Trump (no matter how desperate he is to fly on a new Air Force One), having "Made in France" or "Assembled in Germany" stamped on Air Force One would be a nonstarter.
In s Trump's view, the U.S. deserves not just a newer jet, but a symbol of national pride. That's why he pushed for a new red, white, and blue paint scheme, ditching the classic robin's egg blue. Even Trump Force One (his personal 757) is decked out in patriotic colors and gold trim.
Whether you agree with the politics or not, the result is the same: Airbus was never in the running. The risk, cost, and time involved would be massive, and the backlash would be worse. For better or worse, Boeing owns this job. The U.S. might grumble. Trump might threaten. But when it comes down to it, Air Force One, along with Boeing's "Doomsday" plane, will remain all-American.
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