Wed, Mar 30, 2005
Despite Boeing Legacy, Gov. Gregoire Signs Off On Efforts To
Lure Airbus
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire says she's 100-percent
behind an effort by three counties in her state to land a new
Airbus plant that will produce aerial refueling tankers for the US
Air Force -- if Airbus gets the contract.
Perhaps its payback after Boeing moved its headquarters out of
he Puget Sound a few years ago. Perhaps its the simple realization
that the Sound is home to thousands of experienced aircraft workers
whose future with Boeing isn't all that certain, now that the 757
line has ended and the 767 line looks like it, too, will go the way
of the do-do. Whatever the reason, Gregoire has endorsed efforts by
Grant, Snohomish and Spokane Counties to bring Airbus to
Washington.
In a letter of support to executives in all three counties,
Gregoire wrote Washington "is the right place for EADS [Airbus's
parent company] to invest in its North American future." She was
quoted in the Puget Sound Business Journal
The Boeing 767 is built in Everett, WA and was initially chosen
by the Air Force as the platform for replacing the aging KC-135
tanker fleet. But that deal fell through in the midst of a huge
scandal in which former Boeing CEO Michael Sears traded USAF
negotiator Darleen Druyun a job for the $23 billion contract.
Congress caught wind of the scandal and shot the deal down. The
entire bidding process is underway again.
Everett city officials pointedly missed a February meeting in
the nation's capitol, where Airbus laid out its bid
requirements.
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