Wings of Command: The Aircraft That Carried U.S. Presidents

The question of whether or not U.S. President Donald Trump will use the Boeing 787-8 gifted from Qatar earlier this month is yet to be determined. Having accepted the gift, which he intends to use to replace Air Force One, experts warn that the modifications needed in order to guarantee security on board may not be ready until the end of his term in office, when it would be moved to his presidential library. Qatari officials state that the offer was a gesture between allies and not an attempt to gain political influence. The issue has sparked debate in the U.S., with Democrats and even several Republicans questioning the decision. Critics argue that the acceptance may violate the U.S. Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.

Trump currently uses Boeing 747-200B/ VC-25A planes, which are costly to repair and generally agreed to be in need of an upgrade. The current model has served six presidents in total, from George H.W. Bush to Trump. The Trump administration put in an order for two new Boeing replacements during his first term in office in 2018, yet various delays have pushed back the expected delivery date to now 2027.

The following chart looks at the legacy of the primary U.S. presidential aircraft. The first plane that appears on our list is the Boeing 314 Clipper, used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943 to fly to the Casablanca Conference. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to fly while in office and he used the Clipper to become the first in office to fly across an ocean and to visit three continents by air.

The Douglas-built VC-54C Skymaster, named “The Flying White House” or (unofficially) the “Sacred Cow” by the White House press corps, due to the high security surrounding it was ordered by Roosevelt and later also used by Harry S. Truman. During Truman’s term in office, he signed the National Security Act of 1947 while aboard, which established the U.S. Air Force as an independent service and made the plane the “birthplace” of the U.S. Air Force.

Between 1947–53, Truman then used the Douglas VC-118 Liftmaster, "The Independence", named after the president’s hometown of Independence, Missouri. It included a stateroom and a main cabin which seated 24 passengers, as well as improvements such as autopilot and a radar altimeter.

The term “Air Force One” was first used during the term of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was flying the Lockheed Constellation/VC-121A, nicknamed the Columbine II, after the official state flower of Colorado in honor of his wife. The term Air Force One was coined after two planes were in the same airspace with the same call name. To avoid confusion, any plane carrying the POTUS started to be called Air Force One, a term later used to describe the aircraft itself. When the U.S. President is aboard a helicopter, then the call name is Marine Force One.

In 1959, Boeing delivered its Boeing 707/VC-137A to the U.S. president, who at the time was still Eisenhower, followed by the Boeing 707/VC-137C in 1962, the latter of which was used until 1990 and remained in use as a backup until 1998. The VC-137C featured an eagle painted on its nose. It was used by John F Kennedy, Lyndon B Johnson, Richard M Nixon, Gerald R Ford, James E Carter, Ronald W Reagan and George H W Bush. The 707 provided an introduction to modern jet transportation for U.S. presidents.

Next up comes the aforementioned Boeing 747-200B/ VC-25A, still used today. Two planes of this model are currently in use by the head of state. The Qatar gift plane, which has been informally called a “palace in the sky” by various media outlets for its opulence, is also a Boeing aircraft.