Air Force One electrical issue delays start of Trump’s Davos trip
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US President Donald Trump is travelling to join other world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
PHOTO: EPA
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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – US President Donald Trump’s trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos got off to a rough start, after the government plane he was flying on was forced to return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland shortly after departure due to a mechanical issue.
While Mr Trump eventually boarded a replacement plane and resumed his journey, the complication delayed his travel to the forum in Switzerland by more than two hours.
It was not immediately clear how the delay would affect Mr Trump’s plans in Davos, where he is set to address the World Economic Forum on the afternoon of Jan 21.
The US President had planned to arrive in Switzerland on Jan 21 and depart on Jan 22, according to a schedule released earlier by the White House.
He also plans to hold meetings with foreign leaders on Jan 21, according to the public daily schedule, before ending the day at a reception with business leaders.
Mr Trump’s first flight took off from Joint Base Andrews at about 9.45pm Washington time. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the crew discovered a “minor electrical issue” after take-off, and Air Force One turned around out of an abundance of caution.
The plane landed safely at Joint Base Andrews shortly after 11pm Washington time, after about an hour and 20 minutes in the air.
On the ground, Mr Trump and the delegation of staff travelling with him boarded a new plane and, minutes after midnight, took off again en route to Switzerland.
The episode highlights a key frustration for Mr Trump that has become an occasional vulnerability for his administration – an ageing fleet of presidential aircraft.
The decades-old fleet of government planes that ferry US presidents, vice-presidents, Cabinet secretaries, and first ladies around the world has had several complications in recent years.
In early 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plane was forced to return to Washington because of a cracked windshield shortly after take-off.
In October, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plane was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Britain
During his first term, Mr Trump directed the Pentagon to pay US$3.9 billion (S$5.01 billion) for a pair of Boeing 747-8 aircraft to serve as the next generation of Air Force One.
But the service and Boeing have grappled with a string of technical obstacles, including flaws in the cockpit and passenger windows, cracked fuselage structures and excessive noise.
In December, the Air Force pushed back the estimated delivery date for the first of two new Air Force One jets by another year to mid-2028. It offered the latest estimate in a statement saying the timeline is “the result of continuing discussions between Boeing and the Air Force”.
Boeing had earlier proposed delivering the plane in 2027, three years later than an originally contracted date of December 2024.
Mr Trump has frequently complained about Boeing’s timeline for completing the new planes.
In an unprecedented move in 2025, the Defence Department formally accepted a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar
The jet is one of the biggest foreign gifts ever given to the US government. Mr Trump has defended the decision to accept the plane, which has raised ethical and security concerns.
Retrofitting the plane to carry the US leader is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take months of work, according to US officials. BLOOMBERG
