Report: Biden Won’t Use Trump’s AF-1 Colors
Reports indicate that presidential jets used as Air Force One will continue in their current white and two-tone blue paint scheme for the foreseeable future.
The next generation of VC-25 jets used as Air Force One will sport the traditional white and two-tone blue colors. [Courtesy: White House]
It looks like the red, white, and blue Air Force One livery proposed by then-President Trump three years ago will not be happening. Instead, the presidential jets will continue in their current white and two-tone blue paint scheme for the foreseeable future.
What’s wrong with red, white, and blue? Reports by CNBC and Politico quote an unnamed Biden administration official who said the “Trump paint scheme” for the next generation of Boeing VC-25B presidential jets “is not being considered because it could drive additional engineering, time, and cost.” VC-25Bs are a military variant of Boeing’s 747-8 airliners.
U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in an email to FLYING that “darker colors among other factors on the underside of the VC-25B aircraft might contribute to temperatures exceeding the current qualification limits of a small number of components.”
Trump proposed the new Air Force One colors in 2019, telling Fox News, “the baby blue doesn’t fit with us.”
The classic white and two-tone blue livery dates back six decades to the Kennedy administration.
Boeing is currently retrofitting two Boeing 747-8s as VC-25Bs that would serve as Air Force One when the president is on board. Delivery of those aircraft reportedly will be delayed by two or three years, the result of several factors.
The White House did not immediately respond to FLYING’s request for comment.
Coincidentally, Trump’s private Boeing 757 also sported a red, white, and blue livery.
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