The Air Force tanker contest is like the Olympics …

Published 5:34 pm Friday, February 19, 2010

The Air Force tanker contest is like the Olympics … no, that’s not Forrest Gump (“Life is like a box of chocolates … “). It’s the analogy drawn by backers of the Boeing Co.’s tanker during a rally today.

Boeing is competing against duo Northrop Grumman and EADS for a $35 billion deal supplying the U.S. Air Force with aerial refueling tankers. The Air Force is expected to release its final set of requirements next week and to name a winner later this year.

“We hope to bring home the gold this year … so that our members can begin to build the Air Force tankers,” said Tom Wroblewski, president of the local Boeing Machinists union.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., continued with the Olympics analogy as he expressed concerns about the Air Force not taking into account a preliminary decision by the World Trade Organization against Airbus.

“When Apolo Ohno gets up there to receive his Olympic medals, we don’t allow a French competitor to take it from him,” Inslee said.

EADS is the parent company of Toulouse, France-based Airbus and will base its and Northrop’s tanker off an Airbus jet. Boeing and Airbus have both alleged the other received unfair government subsidies. The WTO hasn’t ruled on Airbus’ claims yet, but it did initially rule that Airbus received illegal subsidies.

“They got caught cheating,” Inslee said.

Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Maria Cantwell, both Washington Democrats, skipped the Olympics references but appealed to an American audience.

“We ought to be investing in American jobs,” Cantwell said.

“We have the best qualified … workforce right here,” Larsen said. “We have the people and the people need jobs.”

Northrop and EADS say their tanker also would create American jobs, particularly in Alabama, where the KC-30 would be assembled.