Analyst: Air Force likely to delay tanker award

Published 10:31 am Friday, October 22, 2010

The Air Force is likely to push out making a decision on a $35 billion tanker contract after more than a decade of delays, says one analyst.

The Pentagon had been expected to announce a winner in November. But Scott Hamilton, with Leeham Co., noted a possible delay on his Web site and at the governor’s aerospace summit yesterday. Hamilton says the Air Force could delay the award until the first quarter of 2011.

The Boeing Co. and Airbus’s parent company, EADS, are the top bidders on the contract to replace 179 aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force.

Boeing would build its 767-based tanker here in Everett. While EADS will assemble its A330-based tanker in Mobile, Ala.

This is the Air Force’s third attempt to replace its Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers.