EVERETT — The Boeing Co. workers who build the “mighty” 767 jet in Everett likely will wait a bit longer to find out whether they’ll assemble tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
The Air Force won’t announce until early 2008 the winning bidder for a $40 billion contract supplying the agency with aerial refueling tankers, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told members of Congress on Wednesday. The agency will make public the tanker contract winner by late January at the earliest.
This is the latest in a series of delays in replacing the Air Force’s aging fleet of KC-135 tankers, which have been in service for more than 50 years. Boeing had won a bid to lease tankers to the government when an ethics scandal spurred the Air Force to rebid the contract,
In April, Boeing submitted its proposal to the Air Force, basing its tanker offering on its commercial 767 jet, which is built in Everett. Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. have teamed up to offer the KC-30 tanker, designed after Airbus’ commercial A330. EADS is the parent company of Airbus.
The Air Force initially predicted it would announce the contract winner this month but pushed the award date back to late December.
Boeing would build its tanker in Everett, with workers in Kansas putting the finishing touches on the KC-767. Northrop-EADS would assemble its tanker in Mobile, Ala.
Eventually, Boeing will replace its commercial 767 with its new fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner. Over the past few years, the company has kept the 767 line alive in Everett despite dwindling orders. Boeing has won 36 new orders for its 767 so far in 2007 and has a backlog of 55 unfilled requests for the plane.
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com
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