Boeing said Thursday it filed a lawsuit and canceled contracts with a supplier of the new VC-25Bs, as a result of delays in completing interior work on the two 747-8 jets that will replace the 747-200s called VC-25As.
The US aircraft manufacturer said in a statement that it had canceled contracts with GDC Technics “due to its insolvency and breach of contractual obligations.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Tarrant County District Court, names GDC Technics, and requires the Fort Worth company to return certain equipment needed to continue the project. GDC has missed numerous deadlines and deadlines, according to Boeing, and is about a year behind.
“The GDC failures have resulted in millions of dollars in damages to Boeing and threaten to jeopardize a job that is of crucial importance to the USAF and the President of the United States,” Boeing said in the lawsuit.
Boeing signed a contract with the US Air Force in 2018 to build two Boeing 747-8 jets that will be used to transport the president. In turn, the manufacturer chose GDC as a subcontractor both to perform upgrades and maintenance on the current VC-25s and to design and build the interiors of the new aircraft, depending on demand.
GDC’s performance has been “very poor,” Boeing said in the court filing. In December, Boeing said that GDC recognized that it was insolvent and Boeing agreed to pay GDC’s employees and subcontractors in the Air Force One program, which it did before with other critical suppliers in its supply chain and that in at least one case it did not. prevented the closure of the rescued company.
Boeing said it canceled the contract on Wednesday. “GDC did not meet schedule requirements and proved incapable of implementing planning and tracking progress,” the lawsuit says. “His work inside airplanes did not meet the requirements.”
Boeing said it has repeatedly extended financial assistance, but “GDC’s precarious condition continues to jeopardize Boeing’s commitments to the USAF customer.”
Boeing added that GDC remains in possession of “contract-related property,” mostly owned by the United States government, and the lawsuit asks a judge to order the Fort Worth company to return the property.
The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House, capable of flying in the worst security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications, and a self-defense system.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump said the new Air Force One model would have updated interiors and a different color scheme than has been used since the administration of President John F. Kennedy.
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