Roughly six years ago, when Donald Trump was still president, he struck a deal with Boeing to replace the nation's aging fleet of 747 airplanes. 

The company, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, agreed to deliver two new state-of-the-art 747 airplanes within a few years.

According to Business Insider, that promise was never kept, and delays have continued to push back the delivery of the new planes by years, with the most recent delay coming a few months ago.

It's now expected that the new fleet of Boeing 747-8i aircraft will not be delivered until March 2026.

What's going on?

While Boeing chose not to comment on the embarrassing delays, the U.S. Air Force blamed a number of factors.

Business Insider noted:

In a statement confirming the news to Business Insider on Friday, the USAF said the latest delay was due to a mix of things, including "impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, interiors supplier transition, manpower limitations, wiring design timelines, and projected test execution rates."

The constant string of setbacks has already cost Boeing some $2 billion, with a total projected final expense of a staggering $5.3 billion.

Now that the old fleet of 747s has had their service extended, the lesser fuel efficient aircraft will cost taxpayers some $390 million just to keep in the air and maintain.

In a statement confirming the news to Business Insider on Friday, the USAF said the latest delay was due to a mix of things, including "impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, interiors supplier transition, manpower limitations, wiring design timelines, and projected test execution rates."

Given his strong likelihood of winning in November, Trump could, after all, fly on the new planes during his potential presidency.

Ongoing troubles

The news wasn't exactly helpful for Boeing, given that the company has had an especially bad year as far as optics go. From what seems like a continued pattern of aircraft defects to whistleblowers dying, the company can't afford much more in the way of negative headlines.

That fact wasn't lost on several social media users, who questioned if the company would even be in business by the time the aircraft are set to be completed, short of any new delays.

"If Boeing still in business by then!!" one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Is it going to fall apart mid-air according to boeing whistleblowers?"