This is just so appropriate:The new Air Force One will be a leftover from a bankrupt Russian airline

[n2doc]

US president Donald Trump is hoping to cut costs on his presidential travel. So the US Air Force, looking to replace the two aging Boeing 747 jetliners that currently both serve as Air Force One, is buying two almost-new 747s that were leftovers from a bankrupt Russian airline, Defense One reports.

Transaero, having gone bust in 2015, couldn’t afford the planes, and Aeroflot, which took over most of Transaero’s other aircraft, opted not to buy them. Boeing decided to bring the planes—which have no interior fittings aside from the cockpit and a few business-class seats on the upper deck—to a storage center in the Mojave Desert in California. California’s dry and arid climate helps preserve planes.

The list price of a Boeing 747-8 is nearly $390 million. How much the Air Force is paying isn’t known, according to Defense One, but it must be more than $175 million apiece. That’s because Benedict Sirimanne, president of CSDS Aircraft, an organization that buys, sells, and leases aircraft, told Quartz he tried to buy them for that price and the Air Force outbid him.

Boeing spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson told Defense One, “We’re still working toward a deal…This deal is focused on providing a great value for the Air Force and the best price for the taxpayer.”


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https://qz.com/1044002/the-new-air-force-one-will-be-a-leftover-from-a-bankrupt-russian-airline/

[pangaia]

1. I can think of a few other ways he could save on travel.

[secondwind]

2. He's using taxpayer dollars to repay his loans to Russian oligarchs. simple as that

[Whiskeytide]

5. Exactly. We likely paid twice mkt value. n/t

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Explain the mechanics of that

Both aircraft (N894BA & N895BA) have been parked in Victorville, Ca for the last 5 months at least

Neither were delivered to Transaero and it appears neither have even ever left the continental US

So please explain how the Air Force buying 2 aircraft that were never delivered because the ordering company went bankrupt can possibly be construed as Trump using taxpayer dollars to repay a loan

[Achilleaze]

3. I heard the new AF1 will have an on-board casino for the republican big wigs

Damn sure I heard it about 3 AM last night, as I was kicking back tequila shots and beer chasers.

Ha ha. Only joking, just like the 'jokes' of the republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief, Comrade Casino, and his republican cabal of colluding cronies.

[flor-de-jasmim]

4. Complete with bugging devices?

[Whiskeytide]

6. They don't need to bug Trump...

... Boris just calls him up on Jared's super secret back channel OO7 squirrel-proof hotline and ask him about state secrets. He doesn't lie to them.

[docgee]

7. That's how putie will get rid of him

when he's no longer useful. The planes are ready to crash on demand.

[Pachamama]

8. Irony