Discussed Tanker Deal, Among Other Things
With the 767 tanker
program in trouble and the Wichita plant's future uncertain,
members of Kansas' congressional delegation met Wednesday with
Boeing chief executive Harry Stonecipher. And they have
questions.
"The tanker program -- that's the primo question," Rep. Todd
Tiahrt, R-Goddard, told the Wichita Eagle. The subject was top on
his list before meeting with Stonecipher (pictured) in Sen. Pat
Roberts' Capitol Hill office. "I'm also concerned about the 767
line shutting down, whether he's reviewed any plans for the sale of
Boeing Wichita, what other programs and contracts Boeing might be
active on," Tiahrt said. "We have to get things going."
Stonecipher's visit with Tiahrt, Roberts, Sen. Sam Brownback and
Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, is his first since taking over for ousted
chief executive Phil Condit in December. The meeting was promised
in January, after a rumored sale of Boeing Wichita prompted a
hastily arranged conference call in which Stonecipher reassured
lawmakers that the plant wasn't for sale -- right now. Since then,
the sale rumors have died down while the tanker tribulation
continues. Two stock analysts reported last week that the deal --
in which the Air Force would buy and/or lease 100 Boeing 767s for
use as refueling tankers -- is likely to experience limbo, if not
death, over the next several months.
On Monday, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a leading tanker
supporter, said the program is "in jeopardy." Boeing has said the
767 tanker program would create about 1,000 jobs in Wichita. The
proposed Air Force KC-767 is essentially a dead plane walking, but
supporters don't want to admit it, said tanker-watcher and critic
Danielle Bryan of the Project on Government Oversight in
Washington, D.C.
"It's sad," she told the newspaper. "People in Wichita are
hearing, 'Wait a few months,' but once lawmakers are through
another election, then you'll hear the bad news." Tiahrt disagrees
with that characterization. He said "two stubborn facts" remain in
the program's favor: The Air Force needs new tankers soon, and the
767 is the best platform to use.
Connected to the tanker
uncertainty is concern over the 767 line itself. The same analyst
reports that were skeptical about the program expressed concern
over the viability of the 767 line without it. Part of the 767 is
manufactured in Wichita. With only 25 orders for 767s on backlog --
compared with 824 orders for the 737 -- a tanker delay would make
the 767 less viable. "Absence of tanker enhances chance the 767
line will have to be closed," wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Heidi
Wood in her report last week. Tiahrt also said prompt approval of
the tanker program is crucial to the survival of the 767 commercial
line. But if the tanker -- and the commercial 767 -- doesn't
survive, Tiahrt said Boeing needs to pursue other ways to bring
jobs to Wichita.
Beyond the specific program questions is the larger issue of the
company's continued presence in Kansas. Moran said he's interested
in knowing Boeing's long-term plans for the state, and what the
delegation can do to assure the company's future. The company is a
prime driver of the state's economy, even in Moran's primarily
rural district in western Kansas.
"The First District has a number of companies that contract to
Boeing, and I have a number of Boeing workers in my district," he
said. "As far as tax revenues for government, as far as the
economic impact statewide, Boeing's future is a huge issue for the
state."