U.S. Airforce Tanker Decision
Add commentsGreetings, I didn't blog about this right off the bat, mostly because I was so ticked off at the decision and I would of just ranted on and on. Also because I work for Boeing and wasn't exactly sure if I could or not. Than I thought, I can express my opinion first most because I am a tax payer and I can exercise my first amendment rights of free speech :), secondly I didn't work on that proposal so I know exactly the same as what is available to the public.
I decided to say a couple things and to post this link where you can go to petition against the decision.
http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/tanker_survey.htm
I know we have a lot of readers that do not live in the U.S. and probably live in Europe. I have nothing against you or your place of origin. (You guys have great beer, period...)
What troubles me is that we are spending our tax dollars (40 Billion, with a possible 60+ Billion dollar follow-on) investing in a foreign company during a time where the American Economy is fragile, the dollar is weak, Real estate market is falling apart and the unemployment rate is falling. It is just troubling and I feel powerless as a citizen.
The fact is the Air Force didn't take economical impacts into their decision, is was strictly based on technical merit (which is also being scrutinized) and in times like these I just don't believe that should be the main consideration. We have the Buy American act for times just like this and yet it was waived....
If you are a US citizen and have an opinion either way, I encourage you to blog about it and vote at the petition link I posted above. Go exercise your rights!
I am a very strong proponent of competition, and yes even on the global scale. If Toyota makes a more reliable car than Ford, I'm buying the Toyota. The same is true if Ford's car is more reliable. American companies need to wake up and smell the coffee. People CARE about quality.
This is only one contract, and I'm sure Boeing will continue to get it's 99% of our military's business over time...
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Jake - Just a quick point -- Boeing doesnt win 99% of military contracts, we have lots of competition inside the US (Northrup, Lockheed, Raytheon to name a few). We recently lost the JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) to Lockheed which was a big hit. This ones even bigger, it will be the tanker for the next 50+ years.
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I watched C-SPAN last night and heard some interesting points from both sides of the coin. It was hard to tell which items where facts and which ones where media spin off exaggerations..... (frustrating).
One argument was clear to me, what if the US and our current allies have a falling out and go our seperate ways, do we as Americans want our military Tanker at jeopardy if say EADS decides to delay the production? Sell some of the technology to another country, which they have in the past and got caught doing it?
Another interesting twist to the story was that in Europe EADS is scrambling in France to tell the public that no jobs will be moved to the US that it will create more jobs here than in the US. Also the first 40 production planes will be made in France and flown to Mobile where it will be completed. In the past EADs has agreed to such terms and after the contract was awarded/signed they changed their minds (helicopter example comes to mind) and kept production overseas.
In general, Boeing makes a Quality product and has for years. The EADs (AirBus tanker) doesnt even exist, its funny someone mentioned paper planes... thats exactly what the EADs solution is, its strictly on paper, unproven technology, unproven production, etc... not to mention Airbus is having BIG problems delivering the A400, A380, A330 and the A300. Boeing is also having issues with its new 787 plane so obviously no one is perfect.
I didnt go into all the details in my original post, I am still learning about what happened, the 5 points that were measured, etc... I wanted to raise attention to the issue to discuss it, I am a proponent of healthy (non-negative) discussions from both sides and appreciate everyones comments so far :)