With more than 40,000 U.S. jobs on the line, the U.S. Air Force’s recent decision to award a $40 billion aerial refueling tanker contract to a team led by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), rather than Boeing, will have a devastating impact on America’s industrial base.
Boeing’s KC-767 tanker would be built with over 85 percent domestic U.S. content and would support more than 44,000 U.S. jobs and 300 contractors in over forty states. The tanker competition was mandated in 2003, allowing a heavily subsidized European manufacturer, EADS, to bid against Boeing, a U.S. firm that received no subsidies.
The Air Force’s decision will result in the initial transfer of $40 billion in technology and jobs, which will grow to $100 billion over the life of the contract, to our nation’s chief rival in the aerospace industry. It also poses a threat to our military and economic security.
Senator John McCain, Republican Presidential Candidate who played a major role in ending the Boeing Air Force mid-air refueling tanker deal previously, has come under fire for his role in and support of the current controversial deal. In the past he has boasted about his role in blocking the earlier version of the tanker deal that gave the contract to Boeing.
Efforts to overturn the decision and award the contract to U.S. firm Boeing have been ramped up, with a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the tanker contract already underway.
Boeing’s KC-767 Advanced Tanker is clearly the better choice.
Click here to send a message to your representatives in Congress, urging them to overturn the outrageous decision to outsource our military’s aerial refueling capability.
The IAM represents nearly 35,000 Boeing employees in Washington state, Oregon, Kansas and locations across the country.
