A Mobile-area Realtor has written an open letter to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, pushing back on the presidential candidate’s early skepticism about the Air Force’s decision to award a massive aerial refueling tanker contract to Northrop Grumman and its European partner, EADS Airbus, over Boeing.
Obama had voiced concerns about the award publicly, though he acknowledged he had not yet reviewed the decision in detail. The letter’s author, who says she has no personal or family ties to the aerospace industry but works locally as a Realtor, argued the senator should hold off on final judgment until he had studied the full record.
“My understanding is the Air Force considered this contract award over three years before making a decision,” the letter states, asking why the public shouldn’t trust the Air Force’s own judgment about a deal it evaluated for so long and explained in detail once Northrop Grumman and EADS were selected.
The letter acknowledges the emotional pull of “buying American” and keeping jobs at home, but argues the reality of the global economy is more complicated. It notes that companies routinely move operations and support jobs overseas to cut costs, and that France and Germany — both longtime U.S. allies — have strong reputations for quality manufacturing that American consumers already buy from in other industries.
The author also points to Mobile’s own experience as evidence that international investment can be a net positive for a community: the city was separately chosen around the same time by Germany’s ThyssenKrupp to build a large steel plant, a deal local officials have touted as a sign of the region’s growing economic profile.
On the competitive question, the letter argues Boeing is unlikely to be seriously harmed by losing this particular contract. It notes the Air Force ultimately plans to acquire roughly 500 new tankers in total, leaving Boeing other opportunities to bid in the future, and suggests Boeing may have underestimated fuel costs in its own proposal, a factor that could have worked against it in the evaluation.
The letter also raises a broader worry: that public pressure from Washington to reverse or second-guess the award over job-loss concerns in Washington state and elsewhere could send an unwelcome signal to European companies considering future investment in the United States, potentially affecting deals well beyond the tanker program and beyond Alabama.
The author closes by wishing Obama luck in his bid for the Democratic nomination, while urging him to reconsider his position once he has had a chance to review the full record behind the Air Force’s decision.