Predictably, Boeing Fans Thrilled; Less So For NGC, Supporters

Below is a small sample of responses to Wednesday's surprise announcement by the Government Accountability Office, which sided with a protest filed by Boeing over the US Air Force's February 29 awarding of the KC-X tanker contract to a team comprised of Northrop Grumman and EADS.

As ANN reported in Real Time, the GAO supported Boeing's assertions the USAF's math was flawed in computing overall costs for each plane... and recommends the Air Force re-bid the contract. The Air Force has 60 days to consider the GAO request. It does not have to honor the ruling.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) welcomed the news, saying the GAO report exposed "serious flaws in the refueling tanker competition that led to a French-built Airbus being chosen over a US-manufactured Boeing 767." The IAM represents nearly 35,000 Boeing employees in Kansas, Washington state and other locations across the country.

"This is a major victory for America," said IAM General Vice President Rich Michalski. "In addition to multi-million dollar accounting errors and foreign government subsidies, the Air Force made changes midway in the competition that further favored the Airbus proposal. The GAO report should be the foundation for reversing this outrageous award without delay."

"We are confident the Boeing aircraft met every criteria established by the Air Force and will give our military a superior aircraft that will serve for decades," Michalski added.

The Air Force Association was less enthusiastic with the announcement, stating the decision only serves to further postpone the replacement of aging KC-135 tankers, some of which entered service nearly 50 years ago.

"The Air Force needs new tankers, and AFA strongly supports that objective," the group said. "The GAO report released [Wednesday] is a step in the process, and it appears from the report that a further delay is inevitable."

AFA noted that on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters replacing the tankers "is the number-one acquisition priority of the Air Force. It has to be. It is 10 years overdue. The average age of this fleet is 47 years old. These planes desperately need to be replaced, not yesterday, not the year before, but 10 years ago ... We need to get new tankers in the sky as soon as possible to support our warfighter. That's where we are. And I suppose that's where we're going to be tomorrow, as well."

Those words were prophetic... but from the sound of it, the news still took Northrop by surprise. Company spokesman Randy Belote issued the briefest of statements following the surprise ruling, saying only "We respect the GAO's work in analyzing the Air Force's tanker acquisition process. We continue to believe that Northrop Grumman offered the most modern and capable tanker for our men and women in uniform. We will review the GAO findings before commenting further."

Sometimes, however, actions speak much louder than words. Earlier in the day Wednesday, Northrop announced firm plans to break ground later this month on the facility in Mobile, AL to perform final completion work on the KC-45A, as well as the Airbus A330-200 Freighter. The company had planned to break ground on the plant June 28.

Given the latest wrench thrown into the tanker contract works, however -- the US Air Force first asked for bids for a KC-135 replacement nearly eight years ago -- that ceremony is probably on hold.

FMI: www.northropgrumman.com, www.goiam.org, www.afa.org