Time to Mothball the President's 747s?

I recently ran across the homepage for a National Geographic special on Air Force One, the name given to whichever of the two custom-built Air Force Boeing 747-200s is carrying the President of the United States and entourage.

This is a very interesting quote about it on the home page:

"The personification -the living symbol- of the Constitution, of this freedom-loving land, and all the people who live in it."

Jack Valenti, Aide to U.S. President Lyndon Johnson

Well, Jack, maybe it was back in your day when the president traveled on a rather humble B707 (which I've toured ... it truly is humble.).

Today, however, Air Force One is extravagant airborne bloviation, Pimp My Ride taken aloft at 500 knots.

I'm not talking about the electronic countermeasures and security. I'm talking about the luxury, right down to gold-plated seatbelt buckles and the presidential seal stamped on everything a visitor might touch. I'm talking about cramming the fuselage with cronies, and handing certificates to the people that get to visit or fly on it. "Coongratulations, mere mortal! You've been to Mount Olympus."

JFK could weather the Cuban Missile Crisis on his homely three by three. Can a modern president not function without being draped in expensive luxury? And guess what? The B747 doesn't seem to be good enough: The Air Force has actually considered replacing it with the even more gargantuan Airbus A380.

I really hope that doesn't happen. But I do think the current B747-200s should go out to pasture, and I think President-Elect Obama could make a real statement with his choice. If I were whispering in his ear, here's what I'd tell him:

Wait for Boeing to finish the 787. Order one with all the capabilities it needs, minus the useless luxury. Don't make it bare-bones, but make it sensible. Make a visitor aboard feel that this is the aircraft of a person who's here to serve, not here to be served. I think that a president with such a multinational background can also make another vital statement with the 787 - he's supporting an American company, but on a project that unites nations across the globe in one effort (not to mention that it will be the most fuel-efficient plane of its size ever).

Granted, the current Air Force One clones make a statement of wealth and power everywhere they go. There are few aircraft more striking, that arrest such attention just in the common act of rumbling down a taxiway. But imagine a 787 as Air Force One: Progressive, innovative, efficient and maybe -just maybe- a touch more humble than we used to be. Let's just hope that our government could live up to that plane's statement.