Boeing's Explanation

From Barrons

BOEING PLANS FOR AIR FORCE EXPLANATIONBoeing (BA), like Bogart in ”Casablanca,” said it was misinformed. Speaking at an investor conference Wednesday, Boeing’s defense operations chief said the company’s read of the Air Force’s request for proposals on the aerial refueling tanker - a contract that Boeing lost last week to Northrop Grumman (NOC) and the European parent of Airbus - didn’t lead Boeing to conclude the military wanted a bigger plane; the decision to go with a larger craft apparently is one of the factors that swung the gig in Northrop’s favor. Boeing called the Air Force’s choice ”puzzling,” especially since, Boeing added, it was discouraged from replacing the 767 it specified in its final proposal with the larger 777. But it will get its day in court, after a fashion: the Air Force will debrief Boeing on the contract Friday, having accelerated its timetable from the March 12 date it circled in an announcement earlier this week. For its part, Northrop has bristled at suggestions - some of them aired on the floor of Congress earlier this week - that military secrets, along with American jobs, are being exported to France. (P.S. - For anyone still puzzling over the Bogie reference: In the film, Bogart’s Rick Blaine said that he came to Casablanca for the waters. Reminded that the city was in a desert, Blaine replied, ”I was misinformed.” Here’s looking at everybody who got the reference.)