Boeing Defense chief Jim Albaugh seems to be throwing in the towel on tankers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/456E6FF1F1E49E60862570D2001841D4?OpenDocument
Key Quote: “It might be another decade before the Air Force gets any new refuelers to replace the current fleet of Eisenhower-era KC-135 planes, said Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing’s St. Louis-based Integrated Defense Systems. … ‘At the rate we’re going, we’re not going to have a new tanker delivered until 2015 or 2016.’”
The Mobile Register also reported on Albaugh’s comments, which came at an investor conference in New York. http://www.al.com/business/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/business/1134209809150590.xml&coll=3
Key Quote: “‘I don’t worry about the tanker too much,’ Albaugh said. ‘Quite frankly, I’m a little skeptical whether or not we’re ever going to see a tanker program, and certainly we’re very happy doing upgrades to the KC-135.’”
Last week, Albaugh’s commercial airplanes colleagues said they stand ready to build tankers for the Air Force — whatever it wants and whenever it wants them. (See my post from Dec. 7 http://www.heraldnet.com/blog/display_blog.cfm?bid=816&day=07&startmonth=12&startyear=2005&id=1 )
Key Quote: “The company took out a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post on Tuesday (ie., Dec. 6), underscoring its 75-year history of building aerial tankers, and describing the 767 as ‘the world’s most advanced refueling aircraft.’”
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