By Andrew WestDOVER — Some notes and quotes between headlines and deadlines …
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It was somewhat of a curious-minds-want-to-know question.
A reporter, during the first White House briefing of the Biden administration, asked, “On a lighter note, will he keep Donald Trump’s Air Force One color scheme change?”
President Joe Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, “showed bone-dry wit” when she answered the question, an Associated Press reporter noted.
“This is such a good question,” said Ms. Psaki. “I have not had the opportunity to dig into that today, given the number of executive actions, orders, the inauguration — a few things happening. I will venture to get you an answer on that, and maybe we can talk about it in here tomorrow.”
True, it did not rise to the same priority level of other matters President Biden covered in the executive orders on his first day in office Wednesday.
But you can bet local aviation buffs likely have the same question.
On Friday, it came up again in the White House briefing.
As a reporter started to ask some housekeeping questions that Ms. Psaki said she would circle back on, she interrupted with a guess, “The plane?”
After a small bit of chuckles, she said, “I can confirm for you here that the president has not spent one moment thinking about the color scheme of Air Force One.”
On Wednesday morning, President Trump boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, bound for Florida.
Watching the VC-25A take off, many people thought about its blue, silver and white colors — particularly the robin’s-egg blue areas — that date back to 1962, when Jacqueline Kennedy was involved in the design project.
Certainly, it has a distinctive look and catches the eyes of locals when its crews fly to Dover Air Force Base on official visits and training flights.
President Trump’s final “Air Force One” flight was aboard the first VC-25A — tail number 28000. Its first use was in September 1990, when President George H.W. Bush flew from Washington to Kansas.
Boeing is building two VC-25Bs that will likely join the presidential fleet in 2024.
In 2018, President Trump said he wanted to upgrade the look and have it emblazoned in the colors of the American flag.
“Air Force One is one of the most recognizable symbols of the presidency, spawning countless references not just in American culture but across the world,” reads a description on the White House website. “Emblazoned with the words ‘United States of America,’ the American flag, and the Seal of the President of the United States, it is an undeniable presence wherever it flies.”
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President Biden flew from Delaware to Washington on Tuesday on a white private jet, one he used during the campaign.
The 737 charter plane had previously been used by the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League.
According to the San Jose Mercury-News, owner KaiserAir said the plane has also flown the bands Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and U2.
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In next Sunday’s edition, the Delaware State News will have a special supplement, celebrating Joe Biden becoming the first Delawarean voted president.
