Europeans given more time for tanker bid
Announcement follows meeting between Obama, French president
WASHINGTON – A day after President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy discussed it at the White House, the Pentagon said Wednesday it would delay for 60 days the deadline for submitting bids on a $35 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers if a European company promised to compete.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., which had sought a 90-day extension, was cagey about its plans. Guy Hicks, an EADS spokesman, explained the 90 days would be the minimum needed to prepare a “responsible proposal” but said the company would consider a 60-day extension.
Pentagon officials said they expected an EADS bid. “We wouldn’t be having the conversations we have been having unless they were seriously considering a bid,” said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman.
EADS is the parent company of Airbus, the chief rival of American aerospace company Boeing in the commercial airplane market. Boeing has said it will bid on the tanker contract.
Morrell said a 60-day delay would be reasonable and not without precedent in such a large contract. Morrell also denied that local or international politics played a role in the Pentagon’s decision to postpone the deadline.
“Politics are not a part of this process, never have been, never will be,” Morrell said.
The decision to delay the bid deadline angered Boeing supporters on Capitol Hill.
“This is completely unacceptable,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement. “The extension means that we are once again bending the rules for a company that has refused to play by them. It is time to stop being held hostage by Airbus’ 11th-hour demands.”