Top U.S. Air Force officer praises Boeing CEO for fixes to aerial tanker

Goldfein said that following his meeting with Calhoun, the Pentagon and Boeing were able to reach an engineering design solution. The Air Force chief likened the situation to the early days of the C-17, the military’s large global transport aircraft.

“In the beginning, it was a mess, and we almost lost that program a number of times, but nobody remembers that,” Goldfein said of the C-17 aircraft.

“Right now we look at the C-17, everybody flies it. It’s unbelievable it’s probably one of the most important weapon systems we’ve ever fielded. It is the heartbeat of global mobility, but nobody remembers those early days. KC-46 I’m convinced will be a weapon system that we’re all proud of,” he said, adding that he has flown the new aerial tanker twice.

Goldfein’s comments come as the aircraft manufacturer deals with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, the latest blow to Boeing since halting production of the 737 Max, which was grounded worldwide for just over a year after two fatal crashes killed 346 people.

In April, the Pentagon released $882 million in withheld payments to Boeing in an effort to mitigate the financial strain of the coronavirus outbreak on the defense contractor. The U.S. Air Force and Boeing negotiated the release of payments, which were held back due to outstanding flaws with the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker. 

“When Covid-19 hit obviously things changed for the entire defense industrial base,” Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, told Pentagon reporters in April via teleconference.

“Cash flow is everything right now, liquidity is everything, and we’ve created policies in the Department of the Air Force to get as much cash out of our hands and to industry as possible … The KC-46 is no exception,” he added.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/01/top-us-air-force-officer-praises-boeing-ceo-for-fixes-to-aerial-tanker.html