Boeing, the American aircraft manufacturer with an $8 billion loss in 2024, will work with Elon Musk, Donald Trump's new adviser on public spending cuts. Through its new boss, Kelly Ortberg, the company has discussed the issue of replacing the presidential plane Air Force One. Since its order during Donald Trump's first term, the aircraft has been delayed and the budget for it exceeded by more than $2 billion.
The causes are design changes, supply chain constraints, and labor problems, which had already scared the American president. In 2017, when he had not yet taken office, Donald Trump had already threatened Boeing to cancel the order due to high costs. With Elon Musk, his new goal is to speed up the delivery of the order, and eliminate costs, Kelly Ortberg mentioned in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.
“The president wants these planes sooner, so we’re working with Elon to see what we can do to accelerate the timeline of these programs,” Ortberg added.
When he arrived at Boeing last August, the new boss made the decision to replace the head of the defense and space division, which handles both Boeing’s aerospace activities (such as the Starliner capsule) and projects like Air Force One. In the last quarter, the division reported losses of $1.7 billion. The new head is an internal interim leader.
It’s not certain that the plane will be delivered on time – before the end of Donald Trump’s term – but an estimate should be available in the spring, a US Air Force spokesperson told CNBC. In the meantime, Boeing will also have to resume testing its 777X program, aimed at replacing the current 777 to compete with Airbus’ A350 program. After months of being grounded, the certification planes have returned to service.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump and the issue of “stuck” astronauts
While not blaming the flagship company of American industry, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Donald Trump mention the Biden administration to justify the delay of the new Air Force One. This is in any case the strategy that the two acolytes at the head of the United States have decided to adopt, concerning the two astronauts stuck in the International Space Station since last year.
By ruling out the strong probability that the extended stay of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams was linked to the malfunction of Boeing's Starliner capsule, or that NASA's decision for him to remain on board while waiting for the next round trip of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, the two men preferred to criticize the former American president by describing the decision of former NASA administrator Bill Nelson as "a disgrace" for Joe Biden.
Source: CNBC
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