Air Force Says Mix-up Did Not Provide Unfair Advantage in Tanker BidFebruary 04, 2011
 A U.S. Air Force officer told Congress that both Boeing and EADS handled "correctly and professionally" a situation in which each received data from the Air Force about each company's bid to build a fleet of refueling tankers. Major Gen. Wendy Masiello also testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Air Force unintentionally sent Boeing and EADS the rival bids on compact disks. The reason for the hearing was to determine whether EADS is in a better negotiating position after one of its employees briefly viewed a summary of the Air Force's assessment of rival Boeing's bid, according to a Reuters article. The Air Force tried to level the playing field by sending images of each other's bids to both companies 21 days after the accidental breach. A group of seven senators believes, however, that the Air Force is minimizing the impact of its mistake, according to Reuters. The senators, led by Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington State, have called on the Defense Department's inspector general to launch an investigation. "Today's hearing did not get at the core of the problem," Cantwell said in a statement, adding that EADS gained an unfair advantage and can adjust its bid to undercut Boeing's bid. The Air Force maintains that none of the data it accidently released contained any "proprietary" pricing information. Masiello said that the Air Force brass is "satisfied that both companies responded to the incident correctly and professionally," according to Reuters. Boeing and EADS are slugging it out in a long and contentious battle to replace the Eisenhower-era fleet of KC-135 tankers. In 2004, Boeing won a lease-buy deal but it fell apart under the weight of a conflict-of-interest scandal. Then in 2008, Northrop Grumman (in partnership with EADS) won a contract to build 179 tankers, but Boeing derailed that victory by protesting the award. Despite the most recent controversy, the Air Force is now calling for final offers and plans to award the contract in early 2011. There will be plenty of opportunities, however, for each company to protest the final award. (DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force/Released) |
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