Air Force One 747-200
BY MARCUS WEISGERBER
GLOBAL BUSINESS EDITOR
JANUARY 24, 2018
The improvement is just the latest example of the bespoke
requirements for the presidential jets.
Air Force One needs new refrigerators, an upgrade that
will cost taxpayers nearly $24 million.
Their high cost is the latest example of just how
expensive it is to build the heavily modified 747 jumbo jets that fly the
president of the United States. Experts say the reason isn’t price gouging by
Boeing, which makes the jets and handles the presidential modifications, but
instead the result of bespoke equipment requirements put in place by the White
House Military Office and the Air Force.
“It’s not a contractor issue, it is a requirements
issue,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group
consulting firm. “It’s not getting people rich.”
The new refrigerators aren’t your kitchen Frigidaires, or
even a typical jetliner’s cabin-feeding coolboxes. The requirement for Air
Force One is the ability to feed passengers and crew for weeks without
resupplying. That means storing about 3,000 meals in massive refrigerators and
freezers below the passenger cabin. Five “chillers” cool a total of 26
climate-controlled compartments, according to the Air Force.
In December, the Air Force awarded Boeing a $23.7 million
contract to replace two of the chillers, which cool eight compartments. Boeing
declined to comment on the deal, referring all questions to the Air Force.
The refrigerators on the plane date to 1990, when the Air
Force received the customized 747 from Boeing.
“Although serviced on a regular basis, reliability has
decreased with failures increasing, especially in hot/humid environments,” Air
Force spokesman Ann Stefanek said in an email. “The units are unable to
effectively support mission requirements for food storage.”
Aboulafia said the refrigerators, and many other items on
the aircraft, are so expensive because they are they are unique to Air Force
One and not used on commercial or business jets. Many of the contractors that
work on the presidential jet also must maintain high-level
security clearances.
Even though the new new refrigerators use “available
industry technology,” they must be customized to carry 70 cubic feet of
refrigerated storage, Stefanek said when asked why the refrigerators cost
so much. “The engineering required to design, manufacture, conduct
environmental testing and obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification
are included in the cost.”
The work is expected to be finished in October 2019.
President Trump has been critical of the cost of two new
Air Force One planes, at one point threatening
to cancel the order if the price was not lowered.
Original post: defenseone.com
Air Force One: Details
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