Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States . In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft specifically designed , built , and used for the purpose of transporting the president . The Presidential aircraft is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power . The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the President arose in 1943 , when officials of the United States Army Air Forces – the predecessor to the U . S . Air Force – became concerned with relying on commercial airlines to transport the President . A C - 87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as a presidential transport ; however , it was rejected by the Secret Service amid concerns over the aircraft ' s safety record . A C - 54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use ; this aircraft , dubbed the " Sacred Cow " , transported President Franklin D . Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945 , and was subsequently used for another two years by President Harry S . Truman . The " Air Force One " call sign was created after a 1953 incident during which a flight carrying President Dwight D . Eisenhower entered the same airspace as a commercial airline flight using the same call sign . Several aircraft have been used as Air Force One since the creation of the presidential fleet , including two Boeing 707s introduced in the 1960s and 1970s , respectively ; since 1990 , the presidential fleet has consisted of two Boeing VC - 25 As – specifically configured , highly customized Boeing 747 - 200B series aircraft . The Air Force is looking into replacing the two VC - 25 aircraft with three replacement aircraft beginning in 2017 . History . On 11 October 1910 , Theodore Roosevelt became the first U . S . President to fly in an aircraft , although at the time of the flight in an early Wright Flyer from Kinloch Field ( near St . Louis , Missouri ) , he was no longer in office , having been succeeded by William Howard Taft . The record - making occasion was a brief overflight of the crowd at a country fair but was nonetheless the beginning of presidential air travel . Prior to World War II , overseas and cross - country presidential travel was rare . Lack of wireless telecommunication and quick transportation made long - distance travel impractical , as it took much time and isolated the president from events in Washington , D . C . Railroads were a safer and more reliable option if the President needed to travel to distant states . By the late 1930s , with the arrival of aircraft such as the Douglas DC - 3 , increasing numbers of the U . S . public saw passenger air travel as a reasonable mode of transportation . All - metal aircraft , more reliable engines , and new radio aids to navigation had made commercial airline travel safer and more convenient . Life insurance companies even began to offer airline pilots insurance policies , albeit at extravagant rates , and many commercial travelers and government officials began using the airlines in preference to rail travel , especially for longer trips . Franklin D . Roosevelt was the first president to fly in an aircraft while in office . The first aircraft obtained specifically for presidential travel was a Douglas Dolphin amphibian delivered in 1933 which was designated RD - 2 by the US Navy and based at the Naval base at Anacostia D . C . The Dolphin was modified with a luxury upholstery for four passengers and a small separate sleeping compartment . The aircraft remained in service as a presidential transport from 1933 until 1939 . There are no reports as to whether the president ever flew in the aircraft though . During World War II , Roosevelt traveled on the " Dixie Clipper " , a Pan Am - crewed Boeing 314 flying boat to the 1943 Casablanca Conference , in Morocco , a flight that covered 5 , 500 miles ( in three " legs " ) . The threat from the German submarines throughout the Battle of the Atlantic made air travel the preferred method of VIP transatlantic transportation . Concerned about relying upon commercial airlines to transport the president , USAAF leaders ordered the conversion of a military aircraft to accommodate the special needs of the Commander in Chief . The first dedicated aircraft proposed for presidential use was a C - 87A VIP transport aircraft . This aircraft , number " 41 - 24159 " , was re - modified in 1943 for use as a presidential VIP transport , the " Guess Where II " , intended to carry President Franklin D . Roosevelt on international trips . Had it been accepted , it would have been the first aircraft to be used in presidential service , in effect the first Air Force One . However , after a review of the C - 87 ' s highly controversial safety record in service , the Secret Service flatly refused to approve the " Guess Where II " for presidential carriage . Also , the C - 87 was a derivative of the Consolidated B - 24 Liberator bomber , so it presented strong offensive impressions to both enemy fighter aircraft as well as foreign dignitaries being visited , an issue not present with airframes that were used purely for transport . The " Guess Where II " was then used to transport senior members of the Roosevelt administration on various trips . In March 1944 , it transported Eleanor Roosevelt on a goodwill tour of several Latin American countries . The C - 87 was scrapped in 1945 . The Secret Service subsequently reconfigured a Douglas C - 54 Skymaster for duty as a presidential transport . This VC - 54C aircraft , nicknamed the " Sacred Cow " , included a sleeping area , radio telephone , and retractable elevator to discreetly lift Roosevelt in his wheelchair . As modified , the VC - 54C was used by President Roosevelt only once , on his trip to the Yalta Conference in February 1945 . After Roosevelt died in spring 1945 , Vice President Harry S . Truman became President . The legislation that created the U . S . Air Force , the National Security Act of 1947 , was signed by Truman while on board the VC - 54C . He replaced the VC - 54C in 1947 with a modified C - 118 Liftmaster , calling it the " Independence " ( also the name of Truman ' s hometown in Missouri ) . This was the first aircraft acting as Air Force One that had a distinctive exterior – a bald eagle head painted on its nose . The presidential call sign was established for security purposes during the administration of Dwight D . Eisenhower . The change stemmed from a 1953 incident where an Eastern Airlines commercial flight ( 8610 ) had the same call sign as a flight the president was on ( Air Force 8610 ) . The aircraft accidentally entered the same airspace , and after the incident the unique call sign " Air Force One " was introduced for the presidential aircraft . The first official flight of Air Force One was in 1959 during the Eisenhower administration . Eisenhower introduced four propeller driven aircraft to presidential service . This group included two Lockheed C - 121 Constellations , the aircraft named " Columbine II " ( VC - 121A 48 - 610 , stored since 2003 at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona ) and " Columbine III " ( VC - 121E 53 - 7885 , transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base in 1966 and placed on display ) . They were named by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower after the columbine , the official state flower of her adopted home state of Colorado . Two Aero Commanders were also added to the fleet and earned the distinction of being the smallest aircraft ever to serve as Air Force One . President Eisenhower also upgraded Air Force One ' s technology by adding an air - to - ground telephone and an air - to - ground teletype machine . Boeing 707s . Towards the end of Eisenhower ' s term in 1958 , the Air Force added three Boeing 707 jets ( as VC - 137s designated SAM 970 , 971 , and 972 ) , into the fleet . Eisenhower became the first president to use the VC - 137 during his " Flight to Peace " Goodwill tour , from 3 December through 22 December 1959 . He visited 11 Asian nations , flying in 19 days , about twice as fast as he could have covered that distance on one of the " Columbines " . SAM 26000 : Official entry to jet age . Under John F . Kennedy presidential air travel officially entered the jet age . He had used the Eisenhower - era jets for trips to Canada , France , Austria and the United Kingdom . However , in October 1962 , the administration purchased a Boeing C - 137 Stratoliner , a modified long - range 707 — Special Air Mission ( SAM ) 26000 . The Air Force had attempted a special presidential livery of their own design : a scheme in red and metallic gold , with the nation ' s name in block letters . Kennedy felt the aircraft appeared too regal , and , on advice from his wife , First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy , he contacted the French - born American industrial designer Raymond Loewy for help in designing a new livery and interiors for the VC - 137 jet . Loewy met with the president , and his earliest research on the project took him to the National Archives , where he looked at the first printed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence , and saw the country ' s name set widely spaced and in upper case in a typeface called Caslon . He chose to expose the polished aluminum fuselage on the bottom side , and used two blues ; a slate - blue associated with the early republic and the presidency , and a more contemporary cyan to represent the present and future . The presidential seal was added to both sides of the fuselage near the nose , a large American flag was painted on the tail , and the sides of the aircraft read " United States of America " in all capital letters . Loewy ' s work won immediate praise from the president and the press . The VC - 137 markings were adapted for the larger VC - 25 when it entered service in 1990 . SAM 26000 was in service from 1962 to 1998 , serving Presidents Kennedy to Clinton . On 22 November 1963 , SAM 26000 carried President Kennedy to Dallas , Texas , where it served as the backdrop as the Kennedys greeted well - wishers at Dallas ' Love Field . Later that afternoon , Kennedy was assassinated , and Vice President Lyndon Johnson assumed the office of president and took the oath of office aboard SAM 26000 . At Johnson ' s request , the plane carried Kennedy ' s body back to Washington . A decade later , SAM 26000 brought Johnson ' s own body home to Texas after his state funeral in Washington . President Lyndon B . Johnson used SAM 26000 to travel extensively domestically , and used it to visit troops in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War . SAM 26000 served President Nixon on several groundbreaking overseas voyages , including his famous visit to the People ' s Republic of China in February 1972 and trip to the Soviet Union later that year , both firsts for an American president . Nixon dubbed the plane the " Spirit of ' 76 " in honor of the upcoming bicentennial of the United States , and that logo was painted on both sides of the plane ' s nose . SAM 27000 . SAM 26000 was replaced in December 1972 by another VC - 137 , Special Air Mission 27000 , although SAM 26000 was kept as a backup until it was finally retired in 1998 . SAM 26000 is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright - Patterson AFB , Ohio . Richard Nixon was the first president to use SAM 27000 , and the newer aircraft served every president until it was replaced by two VC - 25 aircraft ( SAM 28000 and 29000 ) in 1990 . After announcing his intention to resign the presidency , Nixon boarded SAM 27000 to travel to California . Colonel Ralph Albertazzie , then pilot of Air Force One recounted that after Gerald Ford was sworn in as president , the plane had to be redesignated as SAM 27000 , indicating no president was on board the aircraft . Over Jefferson City , Missouri , Albertazzie radioed : " ' Kansas City , this was Air Force One . Will you change our call sign to SAM 27000 ? ' Back came the reply : ' Roger , SAM 27000 . Good luck to the President . ' " SAM 27000 ' s last flight as Air Force One was on 29 August 2001 when it flew President George W . Bush from San Antonio to Waco , Texas . Following the flight it was formally decommissioned then flown to San Bernardino International Airport ( former Norton AFB ) in California . It was later dismantled and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley , where it was reassembled and is on permanent display . Boeing 747s . Though Ronald Reagan ' s two terms as president saw no major changes to Air Force One , the manufacture of the presidential aircraft version of the 747 began during his presidency . The USAF issued a Request For Proposal in 1985 for two wide - body aircraft with a minimum of three engines and an unrefueled range of 6 , 000 miles . Boeing with the 747 and McDonnell Douglas with the DC - 10 submitted proposals , and the Reagan Administration ordered two identical 747s to replace the aging 707s he used . The interior designs were drawn up by First Lady Nancy Reagan , and were reminiscent of the American Southwest . The first of two aircraft designated VC - 25A was delivered in 1990 , during the administration of George H . W . Bush . Delays were experienced to allow for additional work to protect the aircraft from electromagnetic pulse ( EMP ) effects . The VC - 25 is equipped with both secure and unsecure phone and computer communications systems , enabling the president to perform duties while in the air in the event of an attack on the United States . The presidential air fleet is maintained by the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . Air Force One usually does not have fighter aircraft to escort the presidential aircraft over the United States , but this has occurred . In June 1974 , while President Nixon was on his way to a scheduled stop in Syria , Syrian fighter jets intercepted Air Force One to act as escorts . However , the Air Force One crew was not informed in advance and , as a result , took evasive action including a dive . 9 / 11 to present . One of the most dramatic episodes aboard Air Force One happened during the September 11 attacks in 2001 . President George W . Bush was interrupted at Emma E . Booker Elementary School in Sarasota , Florida , after the attack on the World Trade Center South Tower in New York City . He took off on a VC - 25 from Sarasota - Bradenton International Airport with Colonel Mark Tillman , the senior pilot of Air Force One that day , in charge . Air traffic controllers gave Air Force One an ominous warning that a passenger jet was close to Air Force One and was unresponsive to calls . " As we got over Gainesville , Fla . , we got the word from Jacksonville Center . They said , ' Air Force One you have traffic behind you and basically above you that is descending into you , we are not in contact with them – they have shut their responder off . ' And at that time it kind of led us to believe maybe someone was coming into us in Sarasota , they saw us take off , they just stayed high and are following us at this point . We had no idea what the capabilities of the terrorists were at that point . " In response to this reported threat , Col . Tillman said he flew Air Force One out into the Gulf of Mexico to test whether the other aircraft would follow . The other jet continued on its route , and Tillman said that it was later explained to him that an airliner had lost its transponder and that the pilots on - board neglected to switch to another radio frequency . The transponder of a plane transmits an electronic identification signal of itself . A threat came again when Tillman received a message warning of an imminent attack on Air Force One . " We got word from the vice president and the staff that ' Angel was next , ' Angel being the classified call sign of Air Force One . Once we got into the Gulf [ of Mexico ] and they passed to us that ' Angel was next , ' at that point I asked for fighter support . If an airliner was part of the attack , it would be good to have fighters on the wing to go ahead and take care of us . " At this point , Tillman said that the plan to fly the president back to Washington , DC was aborted and instead Tillman landed at Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana and Offutt Air Force Base , Nebraska , where the president made a speech . Tillman explained that this was due to his concern that because of the reported threat , Air Force One would be attacked when he returned to Andrews Air Force Base . After the preliminary stops , the president was returned to Washington . The next day , officials at the White House and the Justice Department explained that President Bush did this because there was " specific and credible information that the White House and Air Force One were also intended targets . " The White House later could not confirm evidence of a threat made against Air Force One , and subsequent investigation found the original claim to be a result of miscommunication . Presidents have invited other world leaders to travel with them on Air Force One at times , including Nixon inviting Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev to travel with him to California from Washington , D . C . in June 1973 . In 1983 , President Reagan and Queen Elizabeth II toured the U . S . west coast aboard Air Force One . In March 2012 , President Obama took the British Prime Minister David Cameron to a basketball game in Ohio aboard Air Force One . When President Bush came to the end of his second term in 2009 , a VC - 25 was used to transport him to Texas . For this purpose the craft was called Special Air Mission 28000 , as the aircraft did not carry the current President of the United States . Similar arrangements were made for former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton . On 27 April 2009 , a low - flying VC - 25 circled New York City for a photo - op and training exercise and caused a scare for many in New York . Fallout from the photo op incident led to the resignation of the director of the White House Military Office . Future replacement . The VC - 25As are expected to be replaced , as they have become less cost - effective to operate . The USAF Air Mobility Command has been charged with looking into possible replacements , including the new Boeing 747 - 8 and the Airbus A380 . On 7 January 2009 , the Air Force Materiel Command , as part of its Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization Program ( PAR ) , posted a notice to survey and identify potential suppliers of the next generation of Presidential airplane to begin service in 2017 . By 28 January 2009 , the deadline for responding to the survey notice , the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company ( EADS ) announced that it would not participate in the program leaving Boeing the sole possible provider with either its Boeing 747 - 8 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner being proposed . Other presidential aircraft . During the Johnson Administration , the United States Air Force acquired a Beechcraft King Air B90 which was designated VC - 6A . The aircraft was used to transport President Johnson between Bergstrom Air Force Base and his family ranch near Johnson City , Texas , and was used at least to transport the President to Princeton , New Jersey . It was referred to as " Lady Bird ' s airplane " and later in its service life featured a basic color scheme similar to civilian aircraft . When the President was aboard the aircraft used the callsign Air Force One . United Airlines is the only commercial airline to have operated " Executive One " , the designation given to a civilian flight on which the U . S . President is aboard . On 26 December 1973 , President Richard Nixon and his family flew as commercial passengers from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles International Airport . His staff explained that this was done to conserve fuel by not having to fly the usual Boeing 707 Air Force aircraft . The President regularly flies in Marine One helicopters operated by the U . S . Marine Corps . In November 1999 , President Bill Clinton flew from Ankara , Turkey , to Cengiz Topel Naval Air Station outside Izmit , Turkey , aboard a marked C - 20C ( Gulfstream III ) using the call sign " Air Force One " , escorted by three F - 16s . On 8 March 2000 , President Clinton flew to Pakistan aboard an unmarked Gulfstream III while another aircraft with the call sign " Air Force One " flew on the same route a few minutes later . This diversion was reported by several U . S . press outlets . On 1 May 2003 , President George W . Bush flew in the co - pilot seat of a Sea Control Squadron THIRTY - FIVE ( VS - 35 ) S - 3B Viking from Naval Air Station North Island , California to the aircraft carrier USS " Abraham Lincoln " off the California coast , where Bush delivered his " Mission Accomplished " speech . During the flight , the aircraft used the callsign of " Navy One " for the first time . This aircraft is now on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida . In May 2009 , President Barack Obama took the first lady on a date to New York City in a Gulfstream C - 37B . On 16 July 2010 , the First Family flew to Maine for vacation in a USAF Gulfstream III . On 25 October 2012 and 3 November 2012 , President Obama flew into Cleveland , Ohio ' s Burke Lakefront airport , in a Boeing 757 that normally serves as Air Force Two to do a campaign speech , before returning to Washington , DC . Air Force One aircraft on display . Several presidential aircraft that have formerly served as Air Force One ( " Sacred Cow " , " Independence " , " Columbine III " , SAM 26000 , and other smaller presidential aircraft ) are on display in the presidential hangar of the National Museum of the United States Air Force ( located at Wright - Patterson AFB near Dayton , Ohio ) and at the Museum of Flight in Seattle , Washington ( earlier VC - 137B SAM 970 ) . The Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One from the Nixon years through the George H . W . Bush administration ( SAM 27000 ) is on display in Simi Valley , California at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library . The library ' s Air Force One Pavilion was opened to the public on 24 October 2005 . A VC - 118A Liftmaster used by John F . Kennedy is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis - Monthan AFB in Tucson , Arizona . A Lockheed JetStar which was used by Lyndon Johnson during his presidency is on display at the LBJ Ranch ( now the Lyndon B . Johnson National Historical Park ) in Stonewall , TX . The ranch had a runway , but was too small to accommodate a large plane such as a Boeing 707 . President Johnson would take the larger Air Force One to Austin , where he would transfer to the smaller JetStar for the short flight to the ranch .