Boeing has been breaking records with the 787 outsource so it's a bit much to wrap themselves in the flag about KC-767. I wonder how the French crews who fly the
C-135FR feel today, if any of them are reading the comments from western US today about their country?
Those who worry about RAF's place in the queue need not worry - the Rivet Joint deal has provided a clear path to the solution to their tanker worries: why send a replaced KC-135 to the boneyard when you can offload it to the Brits?
Meanwhile, in Washington State:
Tom Wroblewski, president of Machinists Union District 751, called the Air Force decision ill-considered.
"Airbus does not even currently build a tanker," he said. "It is a paper airplane only
Maybe Airbus could persuade the Australians to let them do a low fly over Mr Wroblewski's house with
EC-330 to show him otherwise. I didn't think the KC-767 as proposed for the competition (with the hybrid bits of -200s and -400s etc.) existed either, just the less capable ones sold to Italy and Japan.
Airbus have been guilty of paper-plane promises (A400M for instance) but Mr Wroblewski (whose unions had their "mission accomplished" banners ready) should remember that:
1. It's better to be a winner or a loser but not a sore loser (adapted from The West Wing)
2. The Machinists might want to organise that factory in Mobile.
February 29:
Cynthia Cole, president of Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the white-collar engineering union at Boeing, said she thought company leadership has done everything possible to remove the stigma of past scandals.
"I would hope it had nothing to do with that," she said of today's decision.
Uh, maybe it had something to do with this?
February 22:
SPEEA President Cynthia Cole said she's advising members to set aside part of their 2007 incentive bonuses the company began to pay Wednesday, as well as a portion of coming paychecks.
"I'm starting my strike fund," she said.