Boeing Co. on Tuesday requested an "immediate debriefing" from the Air Force on the decision to award a $35 billion tanker program to Northrop Grumman Corp. and European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co.
The Air Force said Friday, when the winner was named, that it would meet March 12 with the bidders to explain the decision. That delay is "inconsistent with well-established procurement practices," Chicago-based Boeing said in a statement.
Boeing built the fleet of tankers the Air Force now uses and was widely expected to win the bid. Northrop and EADS, parent of Airbus SAS, plan to build part of the tanker in Europe, with assembly in Alabama. That prompted a congressional panel to schedule a hearing Wednesday amid outcries from politicians worried about job losses in the US
"They shouldn't be too quick to pop the champagne corks yet at EADS," said Dan Solon, an independent airline analyst in Barcelona, Spain, adding that he expects congressional protests to stall the tanker's production until after the presidential election in November. "I think this one will run for at least the next 12 months, and I would not bet against Boeing's chances, long term."
Boeing expected the briefing to occur "within days, not weeks, of the selection announcement," said Mark McGraw, vice president of Boeing's 767 tanker program. Boeing has said it won't decide whether to protest until it has been debriefed.
Air Force officials could meet with Boeing as soon as Thursday, John Young, the Defense Department's undersecretary for acquisition, said in Washington Tuesday.
"Boeing is entitled to be debriefed, and I want that to happen," said Young, the Pentagon's top weapons acquisition official. "I dislike this playing out in the media."
Late Tuesday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) in a release said that the Air Force had bowed to public pressure and now planned to brief Boeing officials Thursday, rather than March 12. Boeing and Air Force officials could not be reached to confirm that date.
The Air Force conducted a very open, fair and detailed competition process, with good communication with the bidders, and an independent review team oversaw the process, Young said.
"The competition and scoring boil down to providing best value against a set of requirements and evaluated criteria specifically defined in the request for proposals," Young said. "The law does not allow the source-selection team to weigh other factors."
The House of Representatives plans to hold a hearing on the matter at 9 a.m. Chicago time. The Senate should follow suit, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said blocking the funds for the contract "remains one of the possibilities." Part of Boeing's tanker would have been built in Wichita, Kan.
If Boeing protests the decision, it will be the latest in a rising trend of disputed U.S. government contracts. The number of contract protests ruled on by the Government Accountability Office rose 16 percent in the past four years, to 335, while the number sustained jumped to 91 from 50.
Boeing has been on the losing end of two of the largest recent protests. In December the GAO said the Air Force must give a better explanation for why it gave Boeing a $1.1 billion contract to maintain KC-135 tanker aircraft, upholding part of a protest from rival bidder Pemco Aviation Group Inc.
Boeing's $15 billion Air Force rescue helicopter award in November 2006 also was overturned after protests by losing bidders Lockheed Martin Corp. and United Technologies Corp.
The $35 billion program to build 179 tankers is the first step to replacing more than 500 of the current KC-135 aircraft. Two more competitions will be held to replace the rest of the fleet. The Air Force is calling the new tanker the KC-45A.
Efforts to replace the tanker fleet have been held up since 2004, when a $23 billion plan to lease and buy 100 new aircraft from Boeing collapsed amid ethical violations by a company executive and an Air Force official.
