Last 747 off the assy line might be the new Air Force One.....And the Democrats pick up an endorsement...

Ever notice how their slogans are all the same theme of some magical path to utopia? The Great Leap Forward, Lean Forward, The Shining Path, Yes We Can, The Red Banner, Hope And Change, etc, etc. It's all the same crap about social justice and equality and all they do is make everyone equally miserable.  The Hillary pics are compliments of "google" and the 747 pics are in my blogfolder

 John Bachtell, chairman of the National Committee of the Communist Party USA, said in a lengthy essay for “People’s World” that America needed a third political party committed to uphold labor — but until that time comes, communists ought to work with Democrats, especially in the coming elections.

Labor has already found a home with the Democratic Party, and the Communist Party would be hard-pressed to draw this voting bloc away at this time, Mr. Bachtell wrote on the “People’s World” website.

So the logical course then is to assist Democrats now with an eye on the long-term, he said, The Daily Caller reported.

“It’s true both parties are dominated by Wall Street interests … [but] the Democratic Party is also home to labor, African Americans, Latinos, other communities of color, women, most union members, young people and a wide range of social and democratic movements … [and] labor and other key social forces are not about to leave the Democratic Party anytime soon,” Mr. Bachtell wrote.

His point?

“This necessarily means working with the Democratic Party,” Mr. Bachtell wrote.

He also made clear the communist goal wasn’t to “build the Democratic Party,” but rather “the broad people’s movement led by labor that utilizes the vehicle of the Democratic Party to advance its agenda.”

And the way to do that, he said, was to grab the support of those “people that can help shape election contours and debates … [and] building movements in the electoral arena.”

One of the world’s most exclusive customers could be the last buyer of the aircraft that democratised long-haul air travel after the US defence department selected Boeing’s 747-8 to be the US president’s new Air Force One.

The fleet of presidential aircraft, due to enter service later this decade, could be among the very last passenger versions of the long-haul aircraft to be built because airlines increasingly favor two-engine long-haul aircraft over four-engine craft

The new aircraft will replace a pair of 747-200s that came into service as the presidential aircraft in 1990, during the presidency of George HW Bush. The type became an all but inevitable choice after the Pentagon decided that the presidential aircraft needed to have four engines. The only other currently manufactured four-engine long-haul jet is Airbus’s A380, manufactured in France.

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it planned to award the contract on a “sole-source” basis to Boeing after negotiation but that it would encourage competition between suppliers to equip the aircraft interior. The Pentagon specified neither precisely how many aircraft it would order nor when they would enter service.

Boeing currently has 24 passenger 747-8s and 12 747-8F freighters on order but has been struggling according to analysts to win new orders for the aircraft. It has slowed production to three every two months.

“The presidential aircraft is one of the most visible symbols of the United States of America and the office of the president of the United States,” Deborah Lee James, the secretary of the air force, said. “The Boeing 747-8 is the only aircraft manufactured in the United States that ... meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the presidential support mission.”
Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Virginia-based Teal Group, said there was a possibility that Boeing would close the 747 production lines — which have been rolling since the late 1960s — after the presidential aircraft rolled off.

Boeing points to robust aircraft orders

Boeing on Wednesday expressed confidence in the prospects for its $440bn commercial aircraft order book, saying that lower oil prices would not deter customers that have ordered record numbers of its new, more fuel-efficient models to reduce their fuel bills, writes Robert Wright.

“There is the risk now that this order provides the opportunity for a graceful exit — unless cargo demand comes roaring back,” Mr Aboulafia said.

Loren Thompson, an analyst at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said airlines increasingly favoured twin-engine aircraft such as Boeing’s 777 and 787 for long-haul routes, rather than larger, four-engine aircraft.

“Airlines prefer to have more flexibility,” he said.
The presidential order would provide a fitting end to production of an aircraft type that helped sharply to reduce the cost of long-haul air travel by accommodating up to 490 passengers on a single aircraft, bringing down costs per seat. The aircraft first flew in February 1969.
However, Boeing insisted on Wednesday it was still seeking other orders for the aircraft.
“We continue to pursue campaigns for both the 747-8 Intercontinental and freighter,” it said.

The announcement came on the same day that Boeing announced better than expected full-year results that had sent its shares up 5.4 per cent to $139.64 by close of trading.