Tanker means 11,000 jobs, $700 million for economy, Boeing says

MUKILTEO — Dennis Brevik helped build one of the last KC-135 tankers assembled by the Boeing Co.

He had no idea then that the U.S. Air Force still would be relying on those tankers more than four decades later.

“It's critical that we get the tanker,” said Brevik, who worked for Boeing for 37 years.

On Monday, Brevik stood with government, labor and industry representatives to support Boeing's efforts to win a $35 billion Air Force contract to replace 179 of those aging KC-135s. Boeing is competing against EADS for the lucrative Air Force deal. Bids for the contract, worth at least $35 billion, are due in July.

Should Boeing win, its 767-based tanker would support 11,000 jobs in Washington, said Elizabeth Lund, Boeing's vice president of the 767 jet program.

Lund did not distinguish how many jobs will be new as compared to how many are existing on the 767 line in Everett. But the jobs include those at 70 aerospace companies in the state. A tanker win for Boeing also would mean an annual economic impact of $700 million to the state, she said.

“Washington is the state that will benefit most” from the Air Force selecting Boeing's tanker, Lund said.

For some Boeing suppliers in the region, the number of jobs tied to the tanker isn't high, but those jobs are still significant. Kirk Adams, chief executive of the Lighthouse for the Blind, said his organization has about 80 blind or deaf workers now. The Boeing tanker would mean 12 new jobs. With unemployment particularly high among the blind, those 12 positions “will literally mean the world” to the workers, Adams said.

While the Air Force isn't expected to take into consideration the number of American jobs each competitor's tanker will create, Congress is likely to do that given the economic climate. Washington's unemployment level is hovering around 10 percent, noted Gov. Chris Gregoire.

“The time is now for us to support American jobs,” said Gregoire, who has formed a coalition with other governors to support Boeing's 767 tanker.

EADS, the parent company of Boeing's commercial rival Airbus, plans to offer the Air Force a tanker based on Airbus' A330 jet. The European consortium will assemble its tanker in Mobile, Ala.

Boeing's Lund said that EADS is trying to complicate matters by asserting its tanker is “American-made.” Boeing's 767-based tanker will be “American-designed, American-built and American-finished.”

EADS announced last month that it would go ahead in the bidding process after its U.S.-based partner, Northrop Grumman, dropped out. The Air Force agreed to extend the initial deadline of May 10 by 60 days to accommodate EADS in making the bid on its own.

The Air Force's extension rubs Washington Sen. Patty Murray the wrong way, particularly in light of an international trade ruling against Airbus in an illegal subsidies case brought by Boeing.

“We cannot and should not reward bad behavior,” said Murray, a Democrat.

This is the Air Force's third attempt at replacing its fleet of Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers, which were built by Boeing. Air Force officials recently testified before Congress that they lack sufficient tankers to support a new major conflict, should one arise. Part of the problem, they said, is the maintenance time required to keep KC-135s in the air. At any given moment, one in five KC-135s is in a maintenance hangar and unavailable for use.

The lengthy procurement process and dependence on aging tankers worries Brevik, who after retiring from Boeing has become an inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration. But the Renton resident is most troubled by the government's willingness to provide critical defense technology to companies based in other countries.

“We're going to have to give them the technology if we give them the contract,” he said.

The Air Force plans to announce the tanker winner later this year. It recently said the winner should plan on starting work in November.