Mayor Jones Message on Air Force Tanker Contest

Mar 8th, 2010

Northrop Grumman's decision not to bid in the Air Force KC-45 tanker competition is very disappointing, but certainly understandable. Once the federal government failed to modify its approach, insuring a fair and transparent competition, Northrop had to make a business decision.

This community has worked extremely hard on this competition. From the community, local, state and federal leaders, a lot has gone into this. To win a $40 billion tanker contract one year and the next year be placed in a position where we cannot even compete is disappointing!

Though today's news is troubling, Mobile and its team should not be discouraged. We have been quite fortunate in this community. We've won ThyssenKrupp, Austal and SSAB. There are other opportunities in our future which the Mobile team stands ready to vigorously pursue.

Brookley is a tremendous asset to Mobile. That is why EADS/Airbus chose the site for its engineering center. It is our intent to continue working with EADS/Airbus and other aerospace companies to insure that large commercial and military aircrafts are built in Mobile.

I’d like to thank all of our citizens for your tremendous amount of support during this process. Stay with us – it’s not over!