Contract Cancellation with Air Force One Retrofit Company GDC
Must Retrofit and Deliver Two Boeing 747s by 2024
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Boeing, the supplier of the U.S. presidential aircraft 'Air Force One,' has initiated a lawsuit against the aircraft modification company GDC. Boeing reportedly canceled the contract and filed a lawsuit over losses, claiming that GDC delayed the delivery schedule by more than a year. Boeing had previously signed a contract with the U.S. government in 2018 to deliver two Air Force One aircraft by 2024 and stated that there would be no issues delivering them by then.
According to foreign media including NBC News on the 8th (local time), Boeing announced that it canceled the contract with GDC, the modification company contracted to convert two Boeing 747-8 aircraft into Air Force One planes, and has filed a lawsuit. In a statement, Boeing said, "GDC delayed the delivery schedule by more than a year due to work delays, causing Boeing millions of dollars in damages and jeopardizing critical U.S. government operations," explaining the reason for the lawsuit.
In 2018, the Trump administration signed a purchase contract with Boeing for two new Air Force One aircraft worth about $5 billion (approximately 5.574 trillion KRW), and under this contract, Boeing is required to deliver two Air Force One aircraft by 2024. Boeing then entrusted the interior modifications of the aircraft to GDC, but the delivery schedule was delayed after GDC went bankrupt in December last year. Although Boeing continued to expand financial support, the company’s situation did not improve, leading to the eventual cancellation of the contract.
Despite the delay in the delivery schedule, Boeing maintains its position to deliver the two aircraft contracted with the U.S. government by 2024 without delay. Boeing has been supplying Air Force One continuously for over 70 years, starting from President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration.
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