Boeing's KC-X campaign continues to stir the protest pot with the public release of its redacted complaint filed to the Government Accountability Office. I'm sure the 22-page document will be poured over by reporters, politicians and, not least, the GAO's auditors.
While most protest filings are typically dense legal documents, Boeing's report is impressively accessible. It almost makes you wonder if the intended audience is a team of GAO auditors, or a mass audience.
But one sentence more than any other stands out. It says:
"Furthermore, the US Air Force's actions show that it altogether failed to comprehend the inherent manufacturing genius of the 767 bid."
Um, did they really say "inherent manufacturing genius"?
Yes, that's what the document says. See page 3, last paragraph.
on March 19, 2008 7:10 AM | Reply
Dear Airbus Publicity Dept. Regards. The 3rd line from beginning has "poured" which is not what you meant. You have to use `pored`. I am retired for 20/21 Yrs so don't mind this Comment. All the Best,
P C Sarma
on March 19, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply
Boeing lost me on page 1, the introduction, when they said:
"This distortion of the procurement process resulted in the Air Force awarding a critical defense contract to a competitor that has never delivered a tanker equipped with an operationally fielded aerial refueling boom, the critical device for refueling aircraft in flight."
One has to wonder what Boeing said after they lost the previous USAF tanker competition to McDonnell Douglas and their KC-10 Extender.
As I recall, that decision seemed to have worked out OK for the Air Force. Then again, oficially it's the Boeing KC-10A Extender now, isn't it?
on March 19, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply
Well, that cinches it for me. Buy Airbus.
on March 20, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply
Boeing's incompetence amazes me. On the one hand, they can produce an Airbus-killer in the 787, yet after the legendary corruption exposed in 2003, they come back with the same dud aircraft, the 767 and expect to beat Airbus.
Boeing can thank its lucky stars that it is an election year and that Airbus is a FrancoGerman racket. That's the only reason why they're getting another bite at the apple. Were it not for the fact that Airbust is a heavily subsidized welfare agency, they would have legitimately lost this on points alone.
Yes, they should come back with the 777 or the Dreamliner. However, I don't know if current Boeing management can do the hearse in the two car funeral thing yet.
on March 21, 2008 1:47 AM | Reply
Good thing Boeing tells us they aren't arrogant and played well with the Air Force this time. If they they didn't say so I might think otherwise.