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AWB disappointed that Airbus is awarded aerial tanker contract |
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Written On: February 29, 2008 |
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Written By: Richard Davis |
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OLYMPIA—Association of Washington Business President Don Brunell said the state’s leading business association and chamber of commerce is deeply disappointed that the Pentagon has awarded the $10 billion aerial refueling aircraft contract to Airbus and Northrop-Grumman Corp.
AWB contacted the president and members of Congress with recommendations that the Pentagon utilize Boeing to provide replacements for the Air Force’s aging KC-135 tanker aircraft. Brunell also made the case for Boeing in an Aug. 7, 2007, op-ed published in The Seattle Times.
The Boeing-built KC-135, some of which are based at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, has served the nation well. Boeing’s KC-767 aerial refueling and strategic transport aircraft are already in service in the Italian and Japanese air forces.
“It is a proven airframe,” Brunell said. “It made sense to convert Boeing’s 767 aircraft for the new tanker program.”
“We are especially disappointed because securing the contract meant jobs in Washington and the United States. Now, Airbus and Northrop-Grumman will share the work between other states and Europe,” Brunell said. “In our judgment, those jobs belonged in the Puget Sound area, not in other states or overseas.”
If the Pentagon had selected Boeing the contract would have provided jobs for workers on the 767 line and related suppliers for years to come. Instead, the 179 planes will be built elsewhere.
AWB was established in 1904 as Washington’s leading business association. Its 6,600 members employ more than 600,000 workers in Washington’s private sector. Boeing is one of AWB’s key members.
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