Boeing wins air tanker contract

Huge deal - potentially worth $35 billion. And it's somewhat of a surprise because there were reports that Boeing's 767 jetliner-based tanker had fared poorly in the Pentagon's evaluation against a larger plane from the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. The bidding has been anything but smooth - Boeing won the first contract in 2004, but an ethics scandal forced a new competition that pitted Boeing against a team of Northrop and EADS. Northrop/EADS won, but Boeing challenged the decision, claiming that the Air Force had mishandled the evaluation process. A government inquiry confirmed Boeing's suspicions, and that led to yet another round. This time, Northrop dropped out, claiming that it wasn't getting a fair shake. That left EADS to square off with Boeing. A real soap opera. But now that it finally seems to be over, California's aerospace industry could be in for a nice payday: Boeing says will mean 4,500 jobs and $233 million for the state. The company would not assemble the plane here, but there are all kinds of subcontractors that would benefit. (LAT, Seattle Times)