"I think he actually said"
"We are definitely struggling with schedule"
I wonder during what airplane development program, commercial or military since the Wright Brothers, that this was not said in some form or other.
If I am not mistaken there were several cynics discounting the Wright Brothers' success until those famous demonstrations at Le Mans. The KC-46 is probably not a perfect airplane, nor a perfect program either, but I anticipate a long and distinguished career - current "woes" notwithstanding.