Report Says Boeing Receives Letter of Intent From Upstart
Cargo Airline
Global Heavylift
Holdings, looking to utilize military cargo planes for commercial
purposes like carrying heavy and oversize machinery, plans to
purchase new or used C-17s from Boeing, reported Bloomberg.
Global Heavylift has approached Boeing with a $10.8 billion
letter of intent from Oppenheimer & Co. to fund the purchase,
according to Myron Stokes, a Global Heavylift co-founder.
The planes would be used to carry heavy and oversize machinery,
including oil rigs, bulldozers and mining equipment, and would be
leased, Stokes said. The planes have a list price of $200
million.
"If you're developing new oil and gas, gold or diamonds, these
things usually are not very easy to get to,' Stokes said. "C-17s
are able to go wherever there's flat earth' for them to land."
Ironically, the announcement came just one day after
Chicago-based Boeing reported it would cease production of the C-17 planes
in mid-2009 due to a lack of orders. Boeing needs
orders for 16 more planes to keep the line open, according to Dave
Bowman, the aircraft's program manager.
Bowman said Saturday there has been interest in commercial use
of the C-17s, although Boeing spokesman Rick Sanford couldn't
immediately confirm the company has gotten a request from Global
Heavylift.
"We have been speaking with serious companies that have a strong
interest in obtaining derivatives of the C-17 for commercial use,"
Sanford said Sunday. "That will be moot unless we get the funding
from the US government to keep that line open."
Global Heavylift's plans include purchasing 60 used planes from
the government, which gives the military an opportunity to update
its own inventory, or 30 new planes, Stokes said.
The company has also expressed interest in taking over Boeing's
production line if the aircraft manufacturer is forced to cease
making the C-17s.
Boeing has 190 US Air Force C-17s under contract and will
deliver the 162nd of those next week, Bowman said. While the
Defense Department added funding for 10 more planes in December, it
didn't request money for new C-17s in the 2008 federal budget,
which was released last month.
Global HeavyLift Holdings, LLC (GHH) is a Florida-based air
cargo entity founded in 2002, and initially involved in
developing the intellectual resources supporting development of
infrastructure of an American-controlled heavy-lift operator.