Billed as the first of a new generation of floating American airfields, the carrier was slated for delivery in 2015, but was not turned over to the Navy and christened until 2017.
With only two of Ford’s 11 elevators operating — and no firm schedule for delivering the remaining nine — the Navy brought a “team of experts” from both the government and private industry on board the Ford to fix the snafus, according to a top Pentagon official.