The new Air Force One will remain blue and white, Biden decides

President Joe Biden is sticking to a blue-and-white color scheme for the exterior of the replacement Air Force One aircraft, the first of which is expected to be delivered in four years.

The Air Force said late Friday that the light blue on the new model of the modified 747s that will transport the president will be a little deeper and more modern in tone than the robin blue on currently used versions of the plane.

Boeing is modifying two of its 747-800 planes that will use the Air Force One call sign when the President is on board. They will replace the existing fleet of two aging Boeing 747-200 aircraft that the President is currently using.

The choice of the plane’s exterior colors follows a previous government decision to scrap a red, white and blue design favored by Donald Trump, Biden’s immediate predecessor. An Air Force review found that the darker colors would increase costs and delay deliveries of the new jumbo jets.

In 2018, Trump directed that the new jets should ditch the iconic Kennedy-era blue and white design in favor of a white and navy blue color scheme. The top half of the plane would have been white and the underside, including the belly, would have been dark blue. A dark red stripe would have run from the cockpit to the stern. The color scheme was almost identical to the exterior of Trump’s personal plane.

The new aircraft, officially known as the VC-25B, will replace the current fleet, known as the VC-25A, which the Air Force says is facing capacity gaps, rising maintenance costs and “parts obsolescence.” Modifications to the successor aircraft include electrical performance upgrades, a medical facility and a self-defense system, the Air Force said.

Delivery of the first of the new planes is scheduled for 2027, followed by the second plane in 2028, the Air Force said.

The current generation aircraft first carried President George HW Bush, who was in office from 1989 to 1993.