Boeing: Washington politician urges fairness in Air Force tanker deal

OLYMPIA — Rep. Norm Dicks urged a top Pentagon official Thursday to make sure that the final rules in the contest for an air tanker contract are fair and not to flinch if a competitor drops out.

Dicks, a Bremerton Democrat, and Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas, met with Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn about what information the Air Force will want from the companies dueling for the $36 billion contract.

That meeting came one day after Lynn sat down with members of the Alabama congressional delegation to discuss the same topic.

“When we heard about that meeting we said we wanted a last chance to make our case,” Dicks said. “I think we made it as persuasively as we could.”

The Air Force tanker competition has pitted the Boeing Co. against Northrop Grumman and its partner EADS, the parent company for Boeing rival Airbus. The politically charged contest, which has dragged on for several years, also pits Washington state, the home of Boeing’s widebody jet factory, against Alabama, where Northrop would assemble its tanker.

Federal lawmakers used this week’s meetings to make a last pitch at influencing the content of the final request for proposals due out next month.

Dicks said he and Tiahrt were told “there’s not going to be any fundamental change” from the draft version released earlier this year.

Alabama’s federal lawmakers apparently got the same message when they sat down with Lynn and Ashton Carter, the Pentagon’s chief executive for acquisitions. Carter did not attend the meeting with Dicks and Tiahrt.

“They clearly stated that they’re listening to the concerns of the bidders and are committed to a fair RFP,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told the Alabama Press-Register.

Dicks, in his 35-minute meeting with Lynn, said bidders should be required to provide an analysis of their tanker’s maintenance, operation and fuel costs over a 40-year period. Boeing contends its smaller and lighter plane will prove less expensive than its rival in such a head-to-head matchup.

Dicks reminded Lynn that Boeing would build in the United States using American workers. Construction would occur in plants in Washington and Kansas. Northrop, he said, would build its first dozen aircraft in its partner’s homeland of France.

And Dicks said he also addressed the possibility of Northrop dropping out and how that should result in Boeing getting the contract.

Earlier this month, Northrop officials said the firm would not submit a bid unless substantial changes were made in the request for proposals. Some members of Congress have suggested not awarding a contract if there is only one bidder.

“They have a right not to bid,” Dicks said of Northrop. “It isn’t the end of the world if there is not a competition.”

Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623, jcornfield@heraldnet.com.