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President Joe Biden decided to stick with blue and white for the exterior color scheme of the next Air Force One aircraft, although the classic design will be slightly modernized.
The US Air Force announced Friday night that the new VC-25B aircraft, a modified 747-8i, will have three main differences: a slightly deeper and more modern shade of light blue, a darker blue on the engines to match the color in the cockpit area and no polished metal section.
The polished metal section was scrapped because the skin alloys of modern airliners don’t allow it, the USAF said.
Boeing is replacing the aging VC-25A fleet, which uses the Air Force One callsign when the POTUS is on board, with the VC-25B aircraft due to capacity gaps, rising maintenance costs and “parts obsolescence.”
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This artist rendering provided by the US Air Force shows the new livery design for the new Air Force One, selected by President Joe Biden. (US Air Force)
Biden’s color choice follows a June 2022 decision to scrap the red, white and blue design proposed by President Donald Trump in 2018 after an Air Force review found darker colors would increase costs and delay delivery.
In Trump’s patriotic design, the top half of the plane would have been white and the underside of the plane would have been dark blue, including the belly. A dark red stripe would have run from the cockpit to the stern.
The USAF also noted that according to a thermal study, the dark blue Trump “would require additional Federal Aviation Administration qualification testing for several commercial components due to the added heat in certain environments.”
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President Biden is sticking with a blue and white color scheme for the exterior of the new version of Air Force One. (US Air Force)
According to Boeing, Air Force One’s classic blue and white color scheme has been displayed since 1962, when President John F. Kennedy was in office.
Other modifications to the plane include electrical performance upgrades, a medical facility and a self-defense system, the Air Force said.
The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2027, while the second is planned for 2028.
The onboard lights flash red as Air Force One, carrying President Joe Biden aboard, takes off from Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, Friday, March 10, 2023. Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Delaware. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
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The current generation of presidential planes made their debut under President George HW Bush in 1990 and have carried every president-elect since then.
