Qatari 747 is being adapted to Fly as Air Force One.

Sept 2025 : The US Air Force has started modifying a Boeing 747 donated by Qatar for “executive airlift”, a spokesperson said on 15^th. September. President Donald Trump has said he wants to fly the jet as “Air Force One” since new presidential transports, held up by delays, won’t be ready until after his term is over.

“As directed by the Secretary of War, the Air Force is modifying a Boeing 747 aircraft for Executive Airlift support”, the Air Force spokesperson said in a brief statement to media outlets. “Details related to the contract are classified”.

The Pentagon officially accepted the 747-8 jet from the Qatari government in May, 2025, and Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Air Force at that time to start planning the necessary modifications enabling it to be transformed into a suitable presidential transport, Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink told lawmakers in June. Meink said the cost of the “retrofit of that aircraft is actually probably less than $400 million”, but critics in Congress countered the cost will approach $1 billion. With the contract classified, actual costs remain a public mystery.

While the Air Force has not identified the contractor for the retrofit, multiple media outlets have reported that L3Harris got the job.

President Donald Trump has suggested that he can fly on the temporary Air Force One till February 2026. The goal at a minimum is for him to do so before his term ends in January 2029.

Boeing won a $3.5 billion contract in 2018 to deliver two 747s adapted for presidential requirements in the VC-25B program. But upgrading the two pre-owned, but never-operated 747-8s has dragged on. Boeing has incurred $2 billion in losses on the fixed-price deal, and cites the struggle to find skilled labour with the clearances needed to work on such a highly classified project. Supply chain issues have also contributed to delays.

How the Pentagon can get the 13-year-old ex-Qatari jet adapted and flying faster than the VC-25B program, is not clear, but the use of the “executive airlift” label, as opposed to “presidential transport” could suggest a different set of requirements.

The Qatari 747 airplane has been largely idle for four years, as the Qatari royal family has attempted to sell it but found no buyers.

To meet the most-stringent requirements for the airplane, industry officials have said it might be necessary to strip the aircraft to its metal frame to ensure no spying or tracking devices are installed, and that the suite of self-defense, communications and engine power requirements needed to meet the demands of presidential safety would cost billions of dollars not now programmed into the Air Force’s budget.   

Earlier, Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin said the Air Force “will be postured to make the modifications necessary” to the former Qatari royal family’s aircraft to make it suitable for the president’s use. It wasn’t clear if that meant the service would be provided the funds to make the needed changes. Allvin and Meink testified alongside Chief of Space Operations General B. Chance Saltzman in the annual Department of the Air Force fiscal 2026 posture hearing, a highly unusual occurrence as a budget has yet to be released.

Team Maverick