Northrop pounces as Boeing delays Wedgetail
Published 11:21 am Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Boeing Co. has delayed delivery of six surveillance aircraft to Australia. The company told Bloomberg that it won’t have the 737 military jets ready until 2010, after confirming only last week that it would deliver the aircraft in 2009.
A Boeing official last week told reporters that integration work on the Wedgetail program was more difficult than the aerospace company had anticipated.
After the news came out this morning, Boeing’s competitor on the Air Force Tanker program, Northrop Grumman, was quick to point out that Boeing’s performance problems may have played a factor in its loss of a $35 billion contract.
From Northrop’s press release:
While Boeing argues that its past record in building tankers should make it a clear winner over Northrop Grumman, the Air Force looked at Boeing’s track record and concluded exactly the opposite. Because replacing its aging tanker fleet is a top priority for the Air Force, it paid special attention to each company’s past record. After doing so, it reached this finding about Boeing’s past program management, an important sub-factor in the crucial Past Performance category: “There was a notable difference between the two offerors. Northrop Grumman received a rating of ‘Satisfactory Confidence,’ while Boeing received a rating of ‘Little Confidence.’”
