Published June 2003

Department of Defense
OKs 767 tanker deal

By Bryan Corliss
Herald Business Writer

The Pentagon will pay the Boeing Co. less than $16 billion to lease 100 767 tankers for the U.S. Air Force, Defense Undersecretary Pete Aldridge said recently.

Boeing says the deal will create between 2,400 and 2,900 jobs in Snohomish County. The planes will be built in Everett, and modified by Boeing workers in Wichita, Kan., starting late in 2004, a company spokesman said.

The deal still must be approved by congressional oversight committees.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made the final decision, and it will save billions of dollars, said Aldridge, the Pentagon’s chief of weapons acquisition.

Under the plan, Boeing will deliver the planes between 2006 and 2011, and the Air Force will hold a $4 billion option to buy the planes after six years. The Air Force will pay a total of $138 million per plane, of which $7 million is lease charges, Aldridge said. The cost per plane is $131 million.

The Pentagon had plans to start buying new tankers after 2006, Aldridge said, but the lease gets the planes in the air faster, by providing the money earlier.

The Air Force will get 67 KC-767 tankers by the time it would have received the first one under the original plan, Aldridge said.

The new tankers are more capable than the KC-135s they’d replace, the Pentagon said in a statement announcing the deal May 23. Those planes are, on average, more than 43 years old — the oldest combat aircraft in the Air Force.

Washington state’s elected officials called the deal good for Boeing, the military and the state.

“Any Boeing worker who’s been laid off, any pilot who flies or relies on these planes and anyone who looks at our state’s economy can see this is a great deal for our military, our economy and our taxpayers,” said Sen. Patty Murray, one of the deal’s prime movers.

“It’s a big victory for our state’s economy and will deliver a sustained boost for Boeing’s production lines and its workers at a time when they need it most,” added U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Related: Leaders vow action to meet 7E7 site-selection criteria

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