Originally Posted by
boxmover
Any new ship is a least 8 more likely 10 years out from its first trip with POTUS.
AF1 is at its hart a 747-200.
What do you think parts will be like for the 200 in ten plus years. One of the problems in taking a late build 200 for AF 1 was always going to be parts problems long before the aircraft are out of life. 35 years after the last commercial build most aircraft are difficult to support.
This is exactly right. I suspect that they've stuck with the old one this long for the general public's perception that keeping them is cheaper than replacing them. Yet it would likely be cheaper to replace them with 800's.