President-elect on Air Force One: ‘Cancel order!’

WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump took aim Tuesday at Air Force One, criticizing the cost of the iconic 747 jumbo jet that has served as the president's flying White House.

The aircraft used by President Barack Obama, built by Chicago-based Boeing Co., have been in service since the Reagan administration and are due to reach the end of a 30-year design life in 2017.

Boeing, which has built presidential jets since the early 1960s, has been doing early development work on the replacement likely to be outfitted with the latest in gadgetry, including top-secret communications equipment, countermeasures to spoil missile attacks, and aerial refueling capability so it can fly for days without landing.

Trump would not fly in a new Air Force One unless re-elected; the replacement would not begin flying until at least 2021. Boeing has been given three contracts totaling $170 million to develop the aircraft, based on the new and larger version of the 747 dubbed the 747-8 Intercontinental.

'Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has no power as president-elect to cancel procurements, but the Air Force has yet to issue a contract for the next-generation Air Force One, which will consist of two planes. Federal budget documents published in February estimate research, test and development costs on the program at $2.8 billion. The figure doesn't include the costs of the two planes, however. When that is factored in, the price tag might be about $4 billion, U.S. officials said.

'We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of this complex military aircraft that serves the unique requirements of the president of the United States,” Boeing said Tuesday in a statement.

Trump told reporters Tuesday morning the Air Force One program is 'ridiculous.”

'Boeing is doing a little bit of a number,” he said. 'We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money.”