Despite Boeing Legacy, Gov. Gregoire Signs Off On Efforts To Lure Airbus

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire says she's 100-percent behind an effort by three counties in her state to land a new Airbus plant that will produce aerial refueling tankers for the US Air Force -- if Airbus gets the contract.

Perhaps its payback after Boeing moved its headquarters out of he Puget Sound a few years ago. Perhaps its the simple realization that the Sound is home to thousands of experienced aircraft workers whose future with Boeing isn't all that certain, now that the 757 line has ended and the 767 line looks like it, too, will go the way of the do-do. Whatever the reason, Gregoire has endorsed efforts by Grant, Snohomish and Spokane Counties to bring Airbus to Washington.

In a letter of support to executives in all three counties, Gregoire wrote Washington "is the right place for EADS [Airbus's parent company] to invest in its North American future." She was quoted in the Puget Sound Business Journal

The Boeing 767 is built in Everett, WA and was initially chosen by the Air Force as the platform for replacing the aging KC-135 tanker fleet. But that deal fell through in the midst of a huge scandal in which former Boeing CEO Michael Sears traded USAF negotiator Darleen Druyun a job for the $23 billion contract. Congress caught wind of the scandal and shot the deal down. The entire bidding process is underway again.

Everett city officials pointedly missed a February meeting in the nation's capitol, where Airbus laid out its bid requirements.

FMI: www.governor.wa.gov