Boeing gets another chance at tanker
The Pentagon is again delaying its request for proposals to build a new refueling tanker plane. That's good news for Boeing in its competition with Airbus and Northrup Grumman for the $40 billion contract. Mitchell Hartman reports.
An illustration of a Northrop Grumman KC-30 Tanker fueling an airplane. (Illustration by Northrup Grumman / Getty Images)
More on Commentaries
TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: Boeing has 27,000 union machinists walking the picket lines. Commercial jet production has ground to a halt. The company's losing $110 million a day. So a bit of good news was probably welcome today. Boeing has won a round in the $40 billion competition to build new refueling tankers for the Air Force. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman explains.
MITCHELL HARTMAN: The Pentagon said today it's delaying, yet again, its request for proposals to build the new tanker. Defense Secretary Robert Gates used words like "cooling off period" and "highly charged environment" in his statement. That reflects the intense competition between Boeing and its rival, the partnership of Northrup Grumman and Europe's Airbus.
Aerospace consultant Scott Hamilton has been following this saga for the last seven years.
SCOTT HAMILTON: The tanker competition has been one screwed-up mess.
Boeing first proposed replacing the aging tanker fleet in 2001. It lost the contract to Northrup and Airbus but had that decision overturned. This latest delay gives Boeing more time to lobby a new presidential administration and land the contract.
HAMILTON: This is less about who's building the tanker than it is about Boeing versus Airbus, and American jobs versus French jobs -- those dastardly Frenchmen.
Airbus and Northrup Grumman say they'll build a factory in Alabama to assemble the new plane. Hamilton says Boeing is worried that would give Airbus a toe-hold in the lucrative U.S. aircraft market.
I'm Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.