Dear Fellow Dismayees,Like any roller coaster ride, the tanker saga can make you queasy if you stay with it too long. Everyone involved in this ghastly affair is going to get queasier. The Government Accountability Office has sustained Boeing’s tanker contract protest, guaranteeing work for lawyers, reporters, and analysts for years to come.
“Never sue your customer,” says the oft-repeated maxim. “Unless, that is, the customer is a complete dolt,” says the caveat to that maxim. Turns out, Boeing’s talking points about the Air Force’s contract award to Northrop Grumman/EADS weren’t corporate pablum. The GAO basically affirmed all of them, and more. Boeing Business Development VP Chris Raymond had maintained that the company’s protest wasn’t “frivolous.” He was exactly right. This ruling is serious-as-a-heart-attack stuff. In particular, consider the fourth point:
Read the full letter here.
