Posted on 02/09/2005 5:57:59 PM PST by BurbankKarl
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Representatives from three Washington cities with ties to The Boeing Co. will meet next week with the majority owner of Airbus SAS in hopes of landing a possible aircraft assembly plant.
Spokane, Everett and Moses Lake will make pitches to the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. as possible locations for a $600 million plant where aerial tankers might one day be built for the U.S. Air Force.
It's considered a longshot because the Department of Defense has not yet decided to replace its fleet of aging Boeing-built KC-135 tankers. And Congress must agree to open up the contract to competition for Airbus to be a contender.
The Pentagon last November nullified a potential $23 billion deal that called for Boeing to supply tankers based on Boeing's 767 passenger jet and said it would consider alternatives, such as opening the contracts to competition.
That piqued interest at EADS, Airbus's majority owner, which has said it would like to choose an American location should it be chosen to build a replacement tanker.
"It is a long shot for us," said Theresa Sanders of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council.
The state's Office of Community Trade and Economic Development is coordinating efforts by the three cities that prequalified, Sanders said.
EADS asked states to select three cities that would be capable of providing the work force, transportation options and resources needed for a site to assemble the tanker, which would be based on the Airbus A330 passenger jet.
All three from Washington state have links to Boeing: Everett is the site of the Boeing plant where 767s, 747s and 777s are assembled. Moses Lake has a Boeing's flight testing facility, and Spokane formerly was home to a Boeing parts plant.
Representatives of the three cities are to meet in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday with officials of EADS North America.
About 100 other U.S. officials also are expected to meet with the company, EADS spokesman Guy Hicks said.
Sanders said the visit offers a chance to check the list of expectations EADS has for a possible location, and to see who else shows up.
"One of my intentions is to be there to make sure we haven't missed anything," Sanders said.
Based on EADS criteria, Spokane, Moses Lake and Everett are the only Washington cities that could qualify for the site, she said.
Airbus requires that a site have a 9,000-foot airport runway, room to build a 1.5 million-square-foot building, and reliable transportation service, including access to a deep-water port for moving huge pieces of equipment.
Spokane would emphasize its relative proximity to the Tri-Cities in south-central Washington and its access to the Columbia River to the Pacific coast, Sanders said.
Whether EADS opens a U.S. assembly plant will depend on Congress and the administration, officials have said.
In the Bush administration's 2006 defense budget proposal, the Air Force gets about $100 million to research the tanker question.
If the administration approves the idea of a competitive bid, the Defense Department said it would be able to prepare documents sometime in early 2006.
Within a few months, all 50 states will have identified cities to EADS North America as possible contenders for the plant. After that, the company will turn to a Texas-based consulting firm to winnow the group, Hicks said.
Why lease new tankers based on the 767 design at the end of the 767 production run. I think it would make more sense to buy new tankers based on the 787 or convert used commercial 767s that can be bought at a discount.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yes, in Moses Lake, Washington State
All 50 states have sites that meet the criteria? I don't think so.
including access to a deep-water port
Depending on their definition of "deep water" I count only 23.
Why should we be purchasing military equipment from countries that are selling military technology to China?
I know Larson AFB still has a runway - what will they build an aircraft with - potatoes?
I like the area & some good fishing can be found up by Banks Lake....pretty small town for big business, or has it grown lately?
Those tankers operating now are 40-50 years old! I would rather have Boeings than some Airbus. The problem with trade ins is that they have a lot of hours on the air frames.
But the USAF puts very few hours on their airframes. Why pay for new aircraft when they will never reach their rated hours anyway? The highest time C-5s have less than 20,000 hours while a typical 747 built the same year accumulated over 80,000 hours. The first KC-135s aren't expected to reach their fatigue life till 2040. If the USAF buys a whole bunch of 767s at the end of their production, they will have the disadvantage of maintaining a 767 fleet long after the commercial 767s are no longer in service. Where will they get the parts to keep them flying? Will they have to spend a lot of money getting small batches of parts made? That's the problem they already have with the KC-135.
I used to work in Everett, putting the leading edge on the front spar of the 747. Before that, I worked at Renton building the out board leading edge for the 727.
That was '67 to 70. Wonder if any arte still flying? Probably not.
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