California governor seeks more orders for C-17 cargo planes
C-17 program employs nearly 30,000 people in 42 states and has broad support in Congress.
Facing the potential loss of 11,000 jobs in his state, California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging President Bush to set aside money to buy more C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes in his fiscal 2008 budget request.
His appeal comes at a critical time for aerospace giant Boeing Co., the aircraft's prime contractor, which is prepared to begin dismantling its assembly lines this month if there is no expectation of additional Air Force orders beyond the planned delivery of 180 planes.
In a letter to Bush, dated Tuesday, Schwarzenegger discussed the economic impact a shutdown would have at Boeing's Long Beach production facility and more than 300 other suppliers in California. But he also stressed the military's need for additional airlift.
"Discontinuing production of the Air Force's premier tactical transport aircraft will strain our military's future airlift capacity at a time when we can least afford such an action," he wrote. "The world continues to encounter new forms of terrorism every day. Now is not the time to halt production of such an irreplaceable resource for our armed forces."
Congress recently received the Air Force's list of unfunded priorities, which includes seven more C-17s to replace planes damaged or overused in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, given the tight budget environment, service officials have expressed a preference for money to buy new aerial refueling tankers instead, a position that does not bode well for more C-17 procurement funding in the administration's fiscal 2008 budget.
"The challenge is the Air Force and [Defense Department] have a terrific budget challenge so they're having to make some tough decisions," John Sams, Boeing's vice president of Air Force programs, told CongressDaily. "And they do not believe they can support [a requirement for C-17s] beyond 180 [planes]."
The Bush administration budgeted funds in its fiscal 2007 request to shut down production lines. But the C-17 program, which employs nearly 30,000 people in 42 states, has broad support in Congress; all four defense committees have rejected the administration's request, with three adding money to buy more C-17s in fiscal 2007.
Over the last few months, Boeing has poured millions of its own money into keeping the lines open in the hope of landing additional Air Force orders, and in anticipation of more foreign sales. Boeing will not deliver the 180th plane to the Air Force until April 2008, but work on that aircraft has already begun, making it possible to shut down some of the suppliers who already have built pieces of the plane.
"We have been investing our own company funds to protect up to 22 additional airplanes past the 180 that are on order," Sams said. "Without a commitment from the U.S. Air Force in the '08 budget or an inclination they're going to add airplanes in the '08 budget, those additional airplanes would be insufficient to keep the [lines] going beyond the middle part of fiscal 2009," he added.
On July 10, Boeing warned the Air Force it would begin notifying suppliers to stop work on the program Aug. 18. Sams said a decision will be made later this month on whether to wrap up C-17 production, but "that decision hasn't been made yet."