Boeing Tanker Protest Sustained!!!!!

[The Inspector]

One issue on conversions NOT done by Boeing on Boeing airframes (like the conversions done by Hayes on the UPS 727-200's) is that as far as the big B is concerned. If you ask for a say, floorbeam repair you get back an approved repair for a WESTERN AIRLINES 727-247 passenger airframe because it left Renton as a pax aircraft, not a freighter. At BADWRENCH we discovered why UPS was having trouble getting K loaders to the door on their -200 conversions, Hayes mislocated the door opening one frame (20 inches) too far aft. (as well as doing lots of substandard work making and installing the doors).

[rreis]

...You mention the "median age of the fleet" but I don't see such values in your table (the "oldest" values were provided to me by a friend in the business).

Actually, I do state the value. It's the 5th item in each line on the first set of data and is even keyed as such -

Key - built, in service, stored (or preserved), derelict/scrapped/written off/crashed, average age, percent active

A300 - 567, 311, 85, 171, 17.8, 54.8%

Caplyer:

1 - I overlooked the "average age" of the fleet, yes, my mistake.

2 - The Median is not the Average in statistical terms (that's why I said you didn't state it). Median value only equals average value when the distribution is uniform which is certainly not the case.

[rreis]

now I am musing on full life cycle analysis of these aircraft to see which of them are better in a global, envirommental, human perspective... if the stated holds, and common sense dictates that reuse is generally better than recycle Boeing would take some lead. But without such anaylisis one can't tell.

[bdk]

Pentagon vows to move forward on tanker
Reuters News 02/03/2010
© Reuters Limited 2010.


WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Pentagon wants Boeing Co (BA.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) to compete for the billions of dollars of orders a new aerial refueling plane will bring, but will move forward even if there is only one bidder, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.

"Obviously we would like to have a competition for it and we hope that both companies will agree to participate, but we will move forward," Gates told the House Armed Services Committee, when asked how the Pentagon would respond if one of the companies dropped out.

"We have to have new tankers," Gates said.

Northrop and its European partner, EADS (EAD.PA), have told the Pentagon they will not submit a bid unless the Air Force makes significant changes to its final request for proposals for the competition, which is valued at over $35 billion.

The Air Force plans to issue final rules for the competition later this month and award a contract this summer.

Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz last month said the service could change some "financial arrangements" for the competition, but was sticking to its requirements for the planes, which will deliver fuel to fighter jets and other aircraft in mid-air.

Industry executives had expected the terms around Feb. 12, but now say they are more likely to be released the week of Feb. 22.

This is the Air Force's third attempt to replace its aging fleet of KC-135 aircraft, which are 49 years old on average.

Northrop and EADS won a projected $35 billion contract for 179 tanker planes in February 2008, but the Pentagon canceled the deal after government auditors upheld a protest filed by Boeing.

Congress killed an earlier Air Force plan to buy one hundred 767-based tankers under a non-competitive deal with Boeing, because of a huge procurement scandal that sent a former top Air Force official and Boeing's former chief financial officer to prison for violating federal conflict of interest rules.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

[k5083]

Sen. Shelby Blocks 70 Nominations

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 5, 2010

By COREY BOLES

WASHINGTON—Sen. Richard Shelby has blocked more than 70 presidential nominees over a long-running feud related to an Air Force refueling-tanker contract and an Federal Bureau of Investigation lab he wants to see built in his home state, Senate aides said Friday.

The Alabama Republican has placed a rare blanket "hold" on Senate confirmation of all of President Barack Obama's nominees, including the No. 2 position at the U.S. trade representative's office, the Treasury Department's top international affairs official and two members of the Federal Trade Commission.

To overcome Mr. Shelby's holds, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) would have to undertake a number of procedural steps for each nominee, clogging the Senate floor schedule and blocking action on legislation such as a jobs-creation bill.

"Sen. Shelby has placed holds on several pending nominees due to unaddressed national security concerns," Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo said Friday. Mr. Graffeo said these include the continuing dispute over replacing the Air Force's tanker fleet–a $35 billion contract. The Pentagon has yet to decide whether to award it to Boeing Co. or to a partnership between Northrop Grumman Corp. and Airbus.

Northrop Grumman is a big employer in Alabama. Mr. Shelby has received $1.2 million in campaign contributions from defense interests since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that provides campaign finance data.

Mr. Shelby has also been pushing for a new FBI counterterrorism facility in his state, a move the Obama administration opposes.

The issue of senators holding up confirmation of federal appointees has become such a distraction for the Obama administration that the president referred to it in his State of the Union address last week. "The confirmation of well-qualified public servants shouldn't be held hostage to the pet projects or grudges of a few individual senators," Mr. Obama told the joint session of Congress.

I really don't care who wins the tanker contract, but whenever we get the new tankers, Mr. Shelby should be strapped to the main undercarriage to enjoy a few touch and goes.

August

[CAPFlyer]

So the Democrats doing the same thing to Bush's nominees is okay?

I would rather see them hold up nominees for something important (like getting a tanker than we need badly) than doing it just because of who's president (which is what the Democrats did).

[bdk]

Air Force Tanker RFP Possible Later This Month
Defense Daily 02/11/2010
Author: Marina Malenic

The long-awaited final request for proposals (RFP) to build a fleet of aerial refueling tankers for Air Force will be released "not earlier than" Feb. 23, according to a pre- solicitation notice released by the Pentagon on Monday.

"This acquisition will be a full and open, best value competition," the Air Force said in a pre-solicitation notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities web site. The document details plans for a fixed-price contract for four developmental KC-X aircraft and options for up to 175 production models at a rate of about 15 aircraft per year. Proposals would be due 75 days from the date of the final RFP release, and a winner would be chosen in the fourth quarter of FY '10.

"The Air Force anticipates a single award but reserves the right to award multiple contracts or not to award a contract at all," the notice states.

A final RFP was originally expected on Nov. 30. However, the Defense Department is still studying the "financial arrangements" for the potential contract, a top Air Force official said last month. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said at the time that there would be no "substantial changes to the requirements side" and that the final RFP would be released within a month after the President's FY '11 budget proposal on Feb. 1 (Defense Daily, Jan. 22).

Pentagon officials have said an initial contract for 179 airplanes to replace the Eisenhower-era KC-135 could be worth up to $50 billion.

Executives at Boeing [BA], one of the two expected industry competitors for the contract, earlier this month said that they expected the Air Force to continue with plans for fixed-price development.

Representatives from the rival industry team, EADS North America and Northrop Grumman [NOC], won a contract to build 179 tankers for the Air Force in February 2008. The contract was canceled when U.S. auditors upheld a Boeing protest tied to Air Force missteps in evaluating bids. The Northrop Grumman-EADS team has threatened to walk away from the bidding if the final RFP is not altered substantially to make a Northrop Grumman-EADS bid viable from a business standpoint.

Pentagon officials have said competition remains the preferred acquisition strategy.

[k5083]

So the Democrats doing the same thing to Bush's nominees is okay?

No, it is not okay. Or, I should say, it would not be okay, since this was never done to all of Bush's nominees. But it was done to a more limited extent, and was equally unconscionable. It is hurting the whole country for your own personal, parochial concerns.

I would rather see them hold up nominees for something important (like getting a tanker than we need badly) than doing it just because of who's president (which is what the Democrats did).

Oh please. He's not trying to get a tanker we need badly, he's trying to get government money flowing into his state and keep Northrop money flowing into his campaign. This is a pure pork play.

The more limited blanket hold during the Bush years was by Reid, to keep a nuclear dump out of his state. Just as parochial and unjustifiable as the Shelby action, IMO. Of course it was not a coincidence that each senator was from the opposite party as the president, but this is not a left-right thing, it is an irresponsible jerk thing.

Not that the Washington congressmen have behaved much better in going to bat for Boeing, but they haven't sunk to this level.

Anyway, the latest news seems to be that the good Senator has abandoned this attempt, after even the more right-leaning media outlets, like the NY Daily News, called foul. Now he is only blocking a few appointees that have some sensible relationship to the tanker issue.

August

[airnutz]

I just heard the tailend of an NPR article...it appears Northrop has pulled out of the competitition. Onward to google...

[CAPFlyer]

Confirmed -

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... 0of%20KC-X

What I still hate is that they still won't admit that the KC-X competition never asked for the A330 aircraft in either RFP, and that both RFP's clearly stated that exceeding the size and offload requirements would not be given bonuses. I just wish that these people would step up and be men about this stuff and stop trying to blame everyone else for their own poor decision to try and stuff the aircraft that wasn't asked for on the customer and then complaining when the customer actually stands up for itself.

Then again, that's Airbus's modus operandi isn't it?

[jtramo]

Great News! American Jobs protected, revenue staying in the US during a recession and we can finally move toward getting these overdue planes out to the Air Force.

I think it was a good decision. Everyone knows that all you need to down an Airbus is just a small group of 5-10 geese anyway. Forget legions of fighter aircraft, just plant some bird seed at the end of USAF runways and the entire fleet would eventually end up working for the Coast Guard as harbor patrol or worse.

[dred]

Gotta admit I thought NG/EADS was just bluffing, and that there was no way in hell they'd walk away from $35B.

[bdk]

John McCain must be rolling over in his grave!

[The Inspector]

Even money that now NG winds up with a contract to build F-35's as an alternative supplier, as a sop for 'taking it like a man'

[Indian head]

I think it was a good decision. Everyone knows that all you need to down an Airbus is just a small group of 5-10 geese anyway. Forget legions of fighter aircraft, just plant some bird seed at the end of USAF runways and the entire fleet would eventually end up working for the Coast Guard as harbor patrol or worse.

That's got to be one of the most ignorant statements I have ever heard during my 35 years in the aviation business.