Air Force Looking for Used Airliner to Expand C-40 VIP Transport Fleet

The Air Force has kicked off its search for a used airliner it can convert into a new VIP airlifter, just as Congress passed the 2026 appropriations bill funding the effort. 

In a market research document published Feb. 2, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center told industry it has “a potential requirement to procure a single, pre-owned Boeing 700-series aircraft to support various mission requirements.” The goal, the document notes, is to modify the aircraft to become a C-40, a medium-range transport for senior military officers, Cabinet officials, the first spouse, and members of Congress.

The Air Force’s current C-40 fleet consists of 11 aircraft in two variants, a B and a C model, and is based on Boeing’s 737-700 Next Generation commercial airliner.  

The request for information does not preclude other Boeing models, but it does ask respondents to provide both a “technical assessment confirming the proposed airframe is a suitable candidate for C-40C modification” and a summary of the respondent’s experience executing modification programs specifically on Boeing 737-700 series aircraft. 

The Air Force also wants the full identification, history, and condition of any proposed aircraft, its engines, and its avionics and missions systems. Acquisition officials are also asking for the “firm fixed price for the aircraft” and a proposed delivery timeline. Responses are due by March 4. 

There are several reasons why the Air Force might prefer to buy a used aircraft instead of buying new. Boeing stopped producing commercial 737 Next Generations, which include the -700 and -800 variants, in 2020 and switched to building 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing doesn’t list prices for 737 MAXs, but analysts say they typically cost around $100 million per airframe, and any modification or mission systems would cost extra. And the company has a backlog of orders for hundreds of those aircraft, meaning the Air Force might have to wait years in line for its airframe.

The Air Force first proposed buying a used airliner for a new C-40 in its fiscal 2025 budget, with documents describing the jet as a new “D” variant costing $328 million. Breaking Defense later reported that the service also asked Congress to let it reprogram funds from the 2024 budget to buy a second C-40. 

That effort stalled out, however, as Congress denied the 2024 reprogramming request and knocked the 2025 budget all the way down to $10 million, citing the rest of the request as “unjustified.” The Air Force dropped the program entirely in its 2026 budget request, citing other priorities. 

But it appears Congress had a change of heart. In both the 2026 NDAA and spending package, lawmakers authorized and appropriated $250 million for “one additional aircraft.” President Donald Trump signed the 2026 appropriations bill into law Feb. 3, making the “potential requirement” noted in the request for information now an official one. 

The appropriations bill also prohibits the Air Force from retiring any of its existing C-40s in 2026, meaning the new aircraft will expand the fleet.

The Air Force’s entire executive airlift fleet—which consists of the VC-25, C-21, C-32, C-37, and C-40—is at a moment of transition. Most of the aircraft are 20 years old or more but must maintain an extremely high readiness level to meet the demands of senior government leaders who need to fly all over the world. 

The new VC-25B, which will replace the VC-25A as “Air Force One” when the President is aboard, is mired in delays and won’t be delivered until mid-2028.  

In the meantime, the Air Force is modifying a 747-8 donated by the government of Qatar to serve as a “bridge” VC-25, with a plan to start flying this summer. At the same time, the service is also buying two other 747-8s secondhand to use for training and spare parts for the presidential airlift mission. 

The service also started market research in April 2025 into small commercial derivative aircraft that could augment or replace the C-37 Gulfstream fleet used for transporting senior leaders or lawmakers.