Today’s unofficial theme seems to be a new Air Force One livery. But I want to speculate on the plane itself. The current Boeing 747-200's commissioned in the 90s are due to be replaced. The Trump administration is set to take delivery of two newer 747-8s that were never delivered to their airline customer at a discount.
The 747 is all but out of production. Airlines are migrating away from these old wide-body designs to newer aircraft. This got me thinking. What type of plane should Air Force One be in the future? How long should they stick with 747s? Are any of the newer designs more promising, or is there a need for a wide-body, four-engined plane in this application that only something like an 747 or A380 can properly fill?
Discuss.