Boeing studying "lessons learned" from tanker saga By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is taking time to do an internal assessment of "lessons learned" from a $35 billion competition for aerial refueling aircraft that became so heated it has now been canceled, the company's top tanker executive said on Tuesday.
"The whole process needs to be looked at. I don't think anybody ... wants to go through this again," David Bowman, vice president of Boeing tanker programs, told Reuters in an interview at the annual Air Force Association meeting.
Bowman said Boeing officials were beginning discussions with Air Force and Pentagon officials about the most divisive Pentagon procurement in years.
"I'm sincerely eager to talk with them to understand what we can do differently," he said. "This is a repairing time."
The Pentagon last week canceled the competition, which pits Boeing against a team of Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and its European subcontractor EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), after concluding it could not pick a winner by January.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz told reporters on Monday a new contract for aerial refueling aircraft could be awarded within 8 to 12 months once the new administration decided how to proceed, but he said it could take as long as 36 to 48 months.
Northrop and EADS won the competition in February, but the Pentagon decided to redo the bidding after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Boeing might have won if not for significant errors made during the Air Force process.
"I would never assert that there was any malice or malintent on the part of the Air Force," Bowman said, when asked about the differences in how Boeing and the Air Force understood their discussions during the initial competition. "I think the process broke." Continued...
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