Does ANYbody Want to Buy an Airplane?

Even though Boeing dropped its price on 767 just last week, in the face of... nothing specific, it has done so again, just in case the Pentagon's purchasing folks can find an extra $17 billion in the cushions of their sofas.

As we reported last Wednesday, "...Boeing officials had agreed to trim the price of each 767-200ER aircraft to around $136 million, bringing the overall price of the lease deal down to around $14 billion from $17 billion. The revised deal calls for the Air Force to purchase the tankers at the end of the six-year lease term for an additional $3.5 billion, down from $4 billion in the original deal." The first public proposal specified $17 billion, plus $4 billion for the purchase option at the end of the lease.

Now, Reuters reports that the planes are getting even more-affordable. The price is rumored to be somewhere between the late price of $136 million per copy, and the Air Force's 'magic number' of $120 million per copy.

The Air Force is looking to lease eleven new tankers by 2006, to merge into today's fleet of 545 KC-135s (above), which average 43 years old -- older than the average pilot and copilot, combined.

FMI: www.af.mil