Boeing Stunned, Angry Over Bid

From lawmakers to Boeing workers, Washington state is outraged today that the Air Force handed a $35 billion contract to foreign firm Airbus and Northrop Grumman, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. One worker called it "a sad day for Boeing," and a senior senator  blasted the Air Force for planning to "put an American sticker on a plane and call it American." Boeing and lawmakers are each considering formal complaints.

But no complaints are coming from Mobile, Ala., where Northrop Grumman and Airbus have promised to build a new facility to transform its jets into tankers. "Oh my gosh, I mean, joy, elation, surprise, excitement," said a spokeswoman from Mobile's chamber of commerce. “The news just keeps getting better; you almost have to pinch yourself." (More Boeing stories.)