To keep the long-delayed Air Force Ones and the Qatar-donated 747-8 flying for decades, the USAF has taken delivery of a perfectly fine Lufthansa jumbo just to carefully dismantle it in the Arizona desert and stockpile everything from the windshields to the escape slides //

The US Air Force has taken delivery of a former Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 that will have a very different second life from the one it enjoyed carrying passengers across the globe. The aircraft, registered D-ABYG and named Baden-Württemberg, has arrived in the United States to become a source of spare parts for the next generation of presidential aircraft. //

D-ABYG is the second of two Lufthansa 747-8Is purchased by the Air Force for about $400 million, but it is not destined to become an Air Force One itself. Instead, the aircraft is being incorporated into an organic parts pool that will provide components for the 747-8 fleet over the long term. Its sister aircraft, D-ABYD, has a different role and is being used as a dedicated trainer for aircrews and maintainers. The acquisition gives the Air Force relatively young 747-8 airframes that closely match the aircraft it is preparing to operate, while also providing a way to secure components for a jet whose production line has already closed, //

A government report on the VC-25B program noted in 2023 that commercial 747-8 aircraft had zero spares available in its windshield risk assessment. The report said the previous supplier had closed its factory, while Boeing had contracted PPG to develop replacement windshields that still required certification. Passenger windows have presented another manufacturing and quality challenge.