Boeing to Appeal $40B Contract

CEO can fold if feds deny appeal on tanker, or ramp up lobbying

(NEWSER) - The Government Accountability Office must rule by next Thursday on Boeing’s appeal of an Air Force deal granting European rival Airbus a multi-billion dollar tanker contract—and CEO Jim McNerney has a tough call ahead if Boeing loses, the Seattle Times reports. He can ground the appeal, or draw more attention to political concerns neither the military nor GAO was allowed to consider. More»

US firm blasts 'unfair' award of Air Force contract to Europeans

(NEWSER) - Boeing isn't taking its loss of a $35 billion military contract to Northrop Grumman and Airbus lying down, Reuters reports. A company vice president said he was "as confident as he could be" that Congress would overturn the Air Force's decision to buy refueling tankers from Boeing's European rival. The firm charges that the Air Force broke federal and military rules in the decision-making process and ended up choosing a riskier plane than Boeing was offering. More»

$40B contact took years of careful planning

(NEWSER) - Years of careful strategy and an alliance between executives was the key to Airbus nailing a $40 billion deal to build Air Force planes, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Pentagon’s decision last week is “a transformational shift in the way weapons systems are acquired. It’s an acknowledgment that globalization is real," said Ralph Crosby Jr., the top US executive for Airbus parent EADS. More»

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon will re-open a $35 billion contract to build the Air Force's fleet of new refueling tankers and pick a new winner by the end of the year, congressional sources say. The Office of the Secretary of Defense—not the Air Force—will oversee the new competition between Boeing Co. and a team led by Northrop Grumman Corp. More»

Campaign boss lobbied against Boeing for European Airbus

(NEWSER) - John McCain is being dragged into the feud between Boeing and the Air Force, reports AP. A firm headed by McCain's campaign finance chairman, Tom Loeffler, was paid $220,000 to lobby on behalf of the Airbus, the successful European rival to Boeing's 767 fuel tanker. McCain had helped block an earlier, flawed Boeing contract for the tanker, and sent letters to the Pentagon in 2006 urging them to change bidding procedures that Airbus said were anticompetitive. More»