The U.S. Air Force has finished modifying and testing a Boeing 747 jet donated by Qatar for temporary use as Air Force One, and expects it to be ready for President Donald Trump to use this summer. The former Qatari aircraft is now being painted red, white and blue as it moves toward service as an interim Air Force One.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the luxury jet a year ago, and the Air Force has described it as a bridge until Boeing can deliver a pair of new aircraft. Boeing is now expected to hand over those planes in 2028, pushing back a program that has already stretched for nearly a decade beyond its original schedule.
The timing matters because the two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades. The aging presidential fleet has left the government relying on a temporary fix while Boeing works through a complicated retrofit effort, including 747s originally built for a now-defunct Russian airliner. Boeing stopped building 747s in 2023, narrowing the pool of aircraft available for conversion.
To keep pilots current on the newest variant, the Air Force said it leased a 747-8 freighter from Atlas Air between October and February. The U.S. also purchased two jets from Lufthansa for training and spare parts, part of the broader effort to keep the presidential fleet moving while the replacement program remains unfinished.
The Qatari jet is not meant to become a permanent answer. Trump has said the plane would be donated to a future presidential library after his term ends, underscoring how closely the aircraft is tied to the drawn-out replacement plan rather than a new long-term fleet. The Air Force officials have called it a bridge, and for now that is exactly what it is.
The unresolved question is whether that bridge will still be needed long after the summer handoff. With Boeing now pointing to 2028 and the current presidential planes nearing the end of their usable life, the interim aircraft is covering for a program that has not yet caught up with the presidency it is meant to serve.
