Besides the obvious (it’s made in America), the 747 has a much better reputation with pilots. Airbus has a reputation for making aircraft that you “command” rather than “fly.” Boeing is run by pilots. The Air Force is run by pilots.
I am sure if you ask a pilot who has flown both, they would prefer the 747 over the A380.
Other reasons cited are not real reasons. The four-engine requirement could be changed. Yes, the 747 can fly into more airports, but that’s not the real reason. The real reason is that the plane must be made in the US, and for the US aircraft industry, that means Boeing because they are the only large commercial aircraft company left in the US. For the Boeing fleet, the 747 is the obvious answer.
The brand new 747–8 that they are planning to buy is a great plane and isn’t that old (first flight 2010). The main reason why the 747 productions are getting ramped down is about the economics of four-engine vs. two engine planes. The A380 has a similar problem and may not last much longer (no orders in 2016 or 2017). Those considerations are secondary when flying the leader of the free world.
The other options would be a 787 (too small) or the 777 (larger but not as big as the 747). Smaller aircraft like the 767 or 757 are just that much worse. They could have gone with the 777 but at a significant reduction in capacity. No real reason to do that unless fuel economy is your main concern, which is not the case here. The 747–8 is a proven design and is already in service around the world. Converting it to a “VC” Presidential plane will be expensive but not risky since the current planes are also 747 variants.
Remember that the military has no problem flying older designs. They absolutely LOVE the 707 which went out of commercial production in the ’60s. They still fly the thing and have tons of them (KC-135, E-3, E-6, E-8, etc..). The 707 based VC-137C used as Air Force One wasn’t retired until 1998!
At any rate, the President will not be flying anything but the best. And it will be American, you can be sure of that.
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