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Boeing gets $24mn contract to replace coolers on US presidential plane

Iran Press TV

Sun Jan 28, 2018 02:13AM

US aircraft maker Boeing Corporation has been awarded a nearly $24 million contract to replace two outdated refrigerators on the American presidential airliner, known as Air Force One.

The coolers on the heavily modified 747 jumbo jets that fly the US president need to have the capacity to store 3,000 meals on board, and two out of the five refrigerators are in need of replacement, Defense One journal reported Saturday.

The refrigerators have been on the customized aircraft since 1990, when Boeing first gave the Air Force the presidential plane. The major US weapons and aircraft manufacturer was awarded a $23.7 million contract to replace the coolers on the Air Force One.

This is while US President Donald Trump complained about the high costs of Air Force One prior to taking office, tweeting that the Air Force should "cancel order!"

The report drew criticism from a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama who ridiculed the notion that replacing the Air Force One refrigerators will cost $24 million, insisting that Obama "would have been impeached" over it.

"We would have been impeached," said Eric Schultz, a former White House deputy press secretary.

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said some of the equipment on board the presidential aircraft is in need of replacement because of decreasing performance and the upgrades are due to be completed by October 2019.

"Although serviced on a regular basis, reliability has decreased with failures increasing, especially in hot/humid environments," Stefanek noted. "The units are unable to effectively support mission requirements for food storage."

"The engineering required to design, manufacture, conduct environmental testing and obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification are included in the cost," she further pointed out.

Richard Aboulafia, the vice president of analysis at the Teal Group consulting firm, said that "the Air Force One-specific requirements, which differ from those on commercial and business aircrafts, can result in high costs for equipment like refrigerators."

"It's not a contractor issue, it is a requirements issue," he added . "It's not getting people rich."