Bid mixup means more headaches for ongoing US air tanker orders

Nov 21, 2010, 16:53 GMT

Washington - A long-running contest between Airbus and Boeing to provide air refueling tankers to the US Air Force has hit another snag: a 'clerical error' that allowed each company to see information on the others bid that should have remained secret.

The Air Force informed US legislators about the mishap on Friday, reported the Seattle Times in its Saturday edition.

The error means Boeing saw information including price figures about Airbus' bid and that Airbus parent company EADS saw the same information on Boeing's bid. That information could prompt either contender to alter its bid to become more competitive.

The mistake 'basically leveled the playing field, providing each offerer with the same information,' said Air Force spokesman Colonel Les Kodlick, reported the Times. He called the error 'unfortunate.'

Air Force efforts to award a 40-billion-dollar contract for the tankers have been drawn out for the better part of a decade. Kodlick insisted the data leak will not delay the award of the contract.

Indeed, since the data was included on discs given to both companies, it is not even known if company representatives have viewed the figures in question.

The Air Force first tried to lease tankers from Boeing in 2001, in a plan that was rejected by congressional critics as a sweetheart deal. Then, in 2008, the Air Force awarded the contract for purchasing tankers to EADS and its partner, Northrop Grumman.

But later that year, after an appeal by Boeing - and political pressure because the contract did not go exclusively to a US company - the Air Force was forced to admit mistakes in the bidding process and withdrew the offer to EADS, starting the contract tender over from scratch.