Contract loss fears at Airbus wing makers

Jul 11 2008 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

AIRBUS wing makers at Broughton, near Chester, fear they may lose a contract to help build an £18bn fleet of airborne refuelling tankers for the US Air Force.

The company won the contract four months ago.

But now the Defense Department has scrapped the deal after lobbying by US politicians who want the work awarded to rival US aircraft makers Boeing. They also say the original tendering process was flawed.

Work on the 179 military aircraft – the first part of a possible order for 500 of the tankers – would help secure the jobs of 7,000 workers at Broughton and others at the Airbus site at Filton, near Bristol, who would work on the wings for the jets.

Airbus parent company EADS and US partner Northrop Grumman beat Boeing to the contract this year.

An Amicus union spokesman said: “It’s not good news for the Broughton workforce.

“There was an element of surprise when Airbus won the deal, and we knew Boeing was not happy about it.

“We’re now going to focus our efforts to lobby the US to ensure the contract is given to Airbus. But we aren’t kidding ourselves that it’s going to be easy.”

The tanker would be modelled on Airbus’s A330 passenger jet – specially modified for the job of refuelling US fighters and bombers in the sky.

Wings for the airborne tankers would be built at Broughton before being shipped to Mobile, Alabama, where the planes would be assembled.

Bosses at Broughton have said the work will help secure the jobs of more than 7,000 people there for years to come and could create extra jobs. The work on the 179 sets of tanker wings is estimated to be worth £3bn-£4bn to Airbus.

The aerospace workers also build wings for commercial airliners, but the massive USAF order would help even out peaks and troughs in the order cycle.

The new tankers are needed to replace the USAF’s ageing fleet which is being strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both the British and Australian air forces have picked the Airbus tanker.

davidrjones