White House staff bids farewell to planes used as Air Force One for more than 35 years | CNN Politics

After an early Thursday morning landing near Washington, two White House officials posted social media farewells to the heavily modified Boeing 747-200, which has flown as Air Force One since 1990, as the first of three planes being modified for the role is set to be delivered soon. “The last ride,” White House communications director Steve Cheung said sharing a photo of the plane - which the Air Force calls a VC-25A - in a post on X. “Well done, good and faithful servant.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino posted a video of the aircraft and wrote he has “been fortunate to fly around the world on this iconic plane for 5 1/2 years — of the 35 years it has been serving US presidents… THANK YOU…” Three 747-800s are being modified as VC-25Bs to fill the role of Air Force One, including a luxury jet donated by the government of Qatar to bridge the gap between the old planes and the two additional planes Boeing is modifying that won’t be done for roughly two more years. It’s not clear what is happening to the old VC-25As, as the Air Force noted in a statement they will remain part of the fleet. “The VC-25B Bridge aircraft will soon join the active exec