Are EADS North America, CEO on the same page?

Published 12:44 pm Wednesday, April 21, 2010

EADS’ CEO Louis Gallois told reporters today that it’s “indispensable” his company find a partner for the U.S. Air Force tanker contest.

That statement, reported by Reuters, conflicts with blunt remarks made by EADS North America officials yesterday.

EADS North America’s Sean O’Keefe and Ralph Crosby pointed to their tanker’s U.S. supply chain as minor partners, but ruled out that they were looking for a major U.S. subcontractor.

The European consortium’s original partner, Northrop Grumman, withdrew from the $35 billion contest, saying the Air Force favors Boeing to replace its aging KC-135 aerial refueling tankers. EADS had been rumored to be in talks with aerospace companies like BAE and L-3 Communications, with EADS remaining the lead contractor.

The North American representatives told reporters they weren’t looking for a major company to share costs and risks in the way that Northrop would have. But that’s not what EADS’ CEO Gallois suggests.

Gallois told Reuters: “We are in discussion with a certain number of companies to have a partner but this time not in the prime contractor role.”