Takes Flight

28 Mar 2008
Various news outlets report on U.S. Air Force's confidence in Northrop Grumman
As various news outlets have reported, one of the reasons Northrop Grumman won a contract to build 179 new aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force is because the Air Force expressed greater confidence in Northrop Grumman's ability to deliver the aircraft on time and on budget than it did Boeing's ability to do the same.

Unlike Boeing, Northrop Grumman's proposed aircraft has already been built, flown, and tested, compiling so far 73 flights and 200 hours in the air. Last month, even before Northrop Grumman won the contract, it successfully tested its fuel-transfer operation. By contrast, Boeing hasn't even built its proposed tanker yet.

And despite all of Boeing's claims of program superiority, the Air Force clearly saw differently – at least in part because Boeing is running late on delivering aerial refueling tankers to U.S. allies Italy and Japan. More than three years after Boeing promised Italy it would have its first aerial refueling tanker, Italy is still waiting.

Boeing's delivery problems aren't restricted to mission-critical military programs. Today, Bloomberg is reporting on yet another delay for Boeing's long-overdue 787 Dreamliner commercial aircraft. According to Bloomberg, a Citigroup aviation analyst is predicting that Boeing soon will announce a six-month delay on the Dreamliner.

What's clear is that Boeing has chronic problems following through on the promises it makes to the U.S. military, foreign military, and the commercial aviation industry.

In an effort to win politically what they could not win on merit, Boeing is causing further delays to the aerial refueling tanker – which the Air Force has identified as its number one priority in making sure Americans defending freedom around the globe have the tools and equipment they need to do their jobs safely and successfully.

By protesting Northrop Grumman's win to the Government Accountability Office, Boeing has forced a production halt on the aircraft fleet Northrop Grumman is building. That means more delays for the American military. By indulging itself in its specious protest, Boeing is making sure that our men and women in uniform have to continue flying in tankers that have been in the skies since Dwight Eisenhower was president.

Northrop Grumman and its 230 suppliers, operating in 49 U.S. States, stand ready to begin work on building America's new tanker, which will be assembled in Mobile, Alabama. All that is standing in Northrop Grumman's way of providing the Air Force what it desperately needs is Boeing's PR-plated protest of a contract that Northrop Grumman won fair and square.

Boeing doesn't have a plane. All they have is protest lawyers.

To read the full story about Boeing's inability to deliver, click here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-boeing-delay-mar28,0,1585729.story

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