EVERETT — The U.S. Air Force dealt the Boeing Co.’s 767 jet line a potentially lethal blow Friday when it passed over the Everett-built aircraft in a $35 billion tanker competition.
Shouts of “it’s not fair” bounced off the walls of the hall of the local union of Boeing Machinists Friday shortly after the Air Force announced it picked a tanker offered by Northrop Grumman and Airbus’ parent company EADS. The contract providing the agency with 179 aerial refueling tankers would have secured the future of Boeing’s 767 for 10 to 15 years.
“Our members could have started building the tanker today,” said Tom Wroblewski, president of the local Machinists’ district. “This is wrong.”
Boeing said it would consider its options on a formal protest after receiving more feedback from the Air Force. Should a Boeing protest fail, the 767 line “is toast,” said Scott Hamilton, an industry analyst with the Leeham Co.
Boeing’s mostly carbon-fiber composite 787 Dreamliner jet was introduced to replace the 767, which was launched in 1978. Hamilton suggested that Boeing ultimately could use the 767 bay in the Everett factory to start a second 787 final assembly line. The area also could house a production line for the single-aisle 737 jet, Hamilton said. Boeing builds the 737 in Renton.
Industry officials, including Boeing’s Scott Carson, president of the commercial airplanes division, say they expect commercial jet orders to slow in 2008. Both Boeing and rival Airbus posted record orders in 2007. The Air Force contract would have afforded Boeing a stable, long-term contract in an industry downturn.
Losing the Air Force deal troubles the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, the union representing more than 20,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers in the Puget Sound region.
“SPEEA is concerned about what this means for the workforce,” said Ray Goforth, the union’s new executive director.
Without the tanker contract, if commercial orders taper off, Boeing may not have anywhere to shift the 767 workers when the line runs out of work. Boeing has a backlog of 51 unfilled orders on the 767, keeping production workers busy for the next three or four years. Boeing, which does not disclose its employment level by specific production line, said the tanker would support 44,000 jobs nationwide, including 9,000 in Washington state.
The Air Force contract gives Boeing’s commercial rival, Airbus and its parent company EADS, a potential toehold in the American military market, said Cynthia Cole, SPEEA’s president.
“I am very disappointed for our members and all employees at the Boeing Company,” Cole said. “I’m surprised the Air Force chose an unproven technology and an inferior product for this important program that supports the men and women in our armed forces.”
Union leaders worry not only about the 767 workers but also about the precedent the Air Force’s decision sets. The Northrop-EADS tanker is derived from European jetmaker Airbus’ commercial A330. The selection has prompted the debate over how “American” the KC-30 is.
“Our members have been passed over for European workers,” the Machinists’ Wroblewski said.
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