You’d recognize Air Force One anywhere. Even though you’ve never seen it in person, you’ve certainly seen the images: the mammoth baby-blue aircraft, the long set of stairs and a president at the top captured mid-wave. It’s an iconic symbol of America.
And it’s been around for more than six decades. Though President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began traveling by plane in 1944, and the call sign “Air Force One” was first used in the 1950s, it wasn’t until the ’60s that Air Force One officially took flight. President John F. Kennedy‘s VC-137 was the first aircraft to be popularly known by this moniker.
Perhaps the most famous aircraft in the world today, Air Force One isn’t just a single jet. The term refers to a group of specific planes used to transport the president of the United States. (Although technically, the call sign “Air Force One” is used to designate any Air Force aircraft carrying the commander-in-chief.)
The fleet has looked pretty much the same for more than 60 years. But now, the Air Force One aircraft—including the Boeing 747-8 that the Qatari royal family gifted to President Donald Trump in 2025—are getting makeovers. Read on to learn about the upcoming upgrades.
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How is Air Force One being updated?
Air Force One aircraft are getting a new paint job. They’ve sported their current color scheme—white and robin’s-egg blue—since 1962. Trump first decided to paint them in 2018, during his first term, and selected the colors red, white, dark blue and gold.
Those plans were scrapped in 2020, when the Air Force weighed in, saying the darker colors could cause overheating, increase costs and delay delivery of the new jumbo jets. That’s why President Joe Biden reversed the decision to paint them in March 2023.
Six years later, Trump still wants to paint Air Force One planes red, white, dark blue and gold. At this point, the Air Force hasn’t provided any details on how this color palette will be different or if it addresses the original concerns about overheating, increased costs and the impact on the planes’ delivery timeline.
According to a rendering of the aircraft’s new look, the top half of the plane will be white, while the bottom half will be navy blue, with dark red and gold stripes running through the middle. This new color scheme closely resembles the exterior of Trump’s personal plane.
Why does Air Force One need an update?
Technically, there is no reason for the Air Force One aircraft to be painted in the new colors. It’s simply Trump’s preference. In January, he told reporters that “we want power blue, not baby blue.”
At this point, it’s unclear how much the new paint jobs are going to cost and whether taxpayers are footing this bill.
Which planes will be getting the new look?
In addition to the official Air Force One aircraft, the other planes in the executive fleet will be getting the new paint job. In total, eight planes will be repainted:
- One Boeing 747-8i plane: This will serve as Air Force One.
- Two Boeing 747-8 aircraft: These specialized jets equipped with advanced communications and defense systems are expected to be delivered in 2028 and will serve as the next generation of presidential air transport.
- One Boeing 747: Donated by the Qatari royal family in 2025, this will be used as an interim Air Force One.
- Four modified Boeing C-32s: These aircraft (each a military transport version of the 757–200) will be used for the vice president, cabinet members, members of Congress and other senior government officials.
What does Air Force One look like on the inside?
While the new interior decor of the upgraded Air Force One aircraft has yet to be released, we do know some of the features of the current Air Force One that will likely appear in its successor. The 4,000 square feet of floor space includes:
- Presidential quarters: With a bedroom, bathroom, office, small gym and meeting area
- Office area: Equipped with advanced communication systems and ample workspace, allowing senior staff to manage operations efficiently while in transit
- Medical facility: With essential emergency-care capabilities, including an operating room that a doctor (who’s on board whenever the president is) can use if needed
- Seating: For those accompanying the president, including senior advisors, Secret Service officers, traveling press and other guests
- Two kitchen areas: Equipped to prepare and serve up to 100 gourmet meals
- Dining room: Also doubles as a conference room
When was the last time Air Force One got a new design?
Air Force One has had the same white and robin’s-egg blue exterior color scheme since its first iteration in 1962, when Kennedy was president. Before that, presidential planes were full-fledged military aircraft sporting a red, orange and black color scheme. President Dwight D. Eisenhower flew on the first presidential jet, a modified Boeing 707 that began carrying the commander-in-chief in 1959.
Three years later, Kennedy and Raymond Loewy, one of the fathers of industrial design, collaborated on the original Air Force One design. (Kennedy even chose the white-and-blue color scheme.)
“[Loewy] criticized the looks of the plane that had been delegated for presidential use, which had a garish orange nose and looked too much like a military plane,” Air Force One historian and former Smithsonian curator Von Hardesty told CNN in 2019. “He wanted something that would reflect the presidency, and he thought this was an opportunity to fashion a really compelling design, which arguably he did.”
Although the interior design, technology and security features have been upgraded many times since then, the exterior of the planes has remained constant ever since.
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Sources:
- The White House: “Air Force One”
- Air Force: “VC-25 – Air Force One”
- The Guardian: “Boeing jet gifted to Trump by Qatari royal family to be delivered by summer”
- USA Today: “Trump’s Air Force One gets new red, white, blue and gold color scheme”
- CBS News: “U.S. Air Force VIP fleet being repainted in Trump’s preferred palette, sources say”
- Reuters: “New paint scheme for Trump’s Air Force One includes gold, red, white and blue”
- Defense Visual Information Distribution Service: “Air Force releases official paint scheme for Executive Airlift”
- Associated Press: “New Air Force One will stay blue and white, Biden decides”
- Associated Press: “Air Force One will be painted red, white and blue as Trump has hinted, US military says”
- Associated Press: “Trump’s Q&A on Air Force One goes from the plane’s color scheme to the fate of TikTok and Canada”
- Air & Space Forces Magazine: “New Paint Scheme for Air Force One, VIP Transport Fleet Revealed”
- CNN: “Out of the blue: A look back at Air Force One’s classic design”
- Boeing: “The tradition of Air Force One”
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