A gourmet kitchen, home theater, and two bedrooms complete with a shower.
No, it’s not a suite at the Four Seasons — it’s Trump Force One, the $100 million personalized Boeing 757 of Donald Trump.
“The plane is very much an extension of the Trump brand,” Donald Trump said on Mighty Planes, a Smithsonian Channel series.
The plane is so opulent that some may consider Air Force One a downgrade. The ornate decor includes 24-karat gold, well, everything — seat belts, light sockets, sinks. There’s enough gold that if melted down it could gold plate the outside of a Greyhound bus.
The main lounge includes a 57-inch flat-screen TV and a state-of-the-art sound system. Each seat, which is high-grade leather, also comes with a personal entertainment system. Cabinets are made of rare mahogany, and pillows in the bedrooms are adorned with the Trump family crest.
“I want the plane to be immaculate,” Mr. Trump said on the documentary. “I don’t want dust. I want everything polished. I want it to be in absolute showroom or mint condition. The word mint condition is a term my father used to use. If he looked at an apartment, he’d say, ‘This is mint condition.’ Well, that’s what I want the plane in — showroom or mint condition.”
Powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the plane seats 43. In commercial use, 757s can seat 228 passengers.
Mr. Trump had owned a Boeing 727 before upgrading.
“It’s a very fast airplane for a large airplane,” said John Dunkin, Mr. Trump’s longtime pilot, on the documentary. “It’s extremely comfortable. It takes turbulence very well. It’s kind of like the Ferrari in the airline category airplane.”
It has a top speed of 609 miles per hour and a range of 16 hours.
“I have the ultimate bus, right?” Mr. Trump said last year on CBS’ Face The Nation.
Mr. Trump isn’t the first billionaire to call the plane home at 40,000 feet.
He purchased it in 2011 from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and had it retrofitted. Ironically, the plane was once in service for the now-defunct Mexican airline TAESA during the 1990s.
The plane, with the tail number N757FA, was recently pulled from real-time tracking websites over security concerns. Mr. Trump has also taken on Secret Service protection. On the flight tracking website FlightAware, the page for Mr. Trump’s plane reads, “This aircraft is not available for public tracking per request from owner/operator.”
The bombastic billionaire also owns a corporate jet and two helicopters, and he once owned an airline, Trump Shuttle, a fleet of 17 planes that flew to and from LaGuardia, Boston Logan, Washington National, and Orlando airports.
Mr. Trump purchased the Eastern Airlines Shuttle for $380 million in 1989, but the airline defaulted in an economic recession. It was taken over by banks, which then sold it to U.S. Air.
A personal 757 is quite an advantage over his political rivals. According to an analysis of Federal Aviation Administration records by the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Trump’s two jets made 71 flights related to his campaign between April 1 and Aug. 31. Flying the plane costs about $5,000 per hour in fuel. Chartering the same model aircraft is $15,000 per hour.
Mr. Trump’s plane has taken center stage during his presidential campaign, often being used as a backdrop during speeches in airport hangars. The plane is also known to buzz airports as the theme song from Air Force One blares over loudspeakers, sending his legion of supporters into a frenzy.
And there’s no mistaking it from land, air, or sea. Not with “TRUMP” emblazoned in gold on the fuselage.
The plane has hosted news conferences, has been used to dazzle potential endorsers, and has acted as a playground for Iowa schoolchildren.
“I’ve taken it to an extreme with a 757,” Mr. Trump said on the Smithsonian documentary. “But it can be an absolutely vital tool for business.”
Contact Kyle Rowland at: krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6282, or on Twitter @KyleRowland.
First Published March 13, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
