CHICAGO — Boeing Co. said Monday it will formally protest an Air Force decision to award a $35 billion aerial contract to a joint venture of Northrop Grumman and the European parent of Airbus SAS.
The protest would mark the first time Chicago-based Boeing has lodged a defense-contracting challenge.
“Our team has taken a very close look at the tanker decision and found serious flaws in the process that we believe warrant appeal,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and chief executive. “This is an extraordinary step rarely taken by our company, and one we take very seriously.”
The challenge, to be filed today with the Government Accountability Office, carries long odds against succeeding — and a risk of backfiring, analysts warned.
The GAO, which acts as an investigative arm of Congress, sided with only 27 percent of the 1,411 protests of contract decisions filed last year, data show. Of those cases the GAO sent back to government procurement officials for further review, only 38 percent ultimately resulted in the protester gaining some form of relief.
A GAO rejection of Boeing’s protest would make it difficult for Boeing supporters in Congress to push ahead with legislation pressuring the Air Force to revisit its decision or split the contract.
“If GAO says this was a fair competition, that’s going to undercut the political message,” said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst with Virginia- based Teal Group.
The winner of this contract will be a front-runner to gain two additional contracts worth an estimated $100 billion to replace the nearly 600 aerial tankers in the government’s fleet.
“The reason you protest is because you believe the outcome was not fair,” said Loren Thomp son, defense analyst with the Lexington Institute.
