Boeing Enters Damage Control Mode
Boeing is swearing up and down that it has not abandoned Kansas. Sure, just a few weeks ago, it ordered the shuttering of its Wichita plant — a move that put 2,160 people out of work and raised hackles across the state.
But the Chicago-based aerospace conglomerate is now promising to boost spending in Kansas, from $3.2 billion to $4.8 billion by 2015.
Clearly, Boeing got scorched for its decision to get out of Wichita. What’s more, the fire-hot blowback was entirely predictable.
In 2010, Boeing was beating on the jobs drum when competing against the EADS North America-Northrop Grumman team for the Air Force’s new refueling tanker.
At the time, the company said that a Boeing win would mean 7,500 more jobs for Kansas, and state elected officials lined up in support.
But after winning the competition in February, Boeing did a quick 180 and axed its Wichita plant, sending most of its work to Washington State.
EADS North America, by contrast, kept open its engineering facility in the city.
Boeing’s political allies in Kansas were stunned by the turn of events.
“We have been there with the company through every battle, whether it was the 10-year tanker battle or securing funding for other key Boeing Defense programs vital to national security," Gov. Sam Brownback said in a Jan. 4 statement.
Of course, some came to the company’s defense. But they weren’t too convincing.
Loren Thompson, a Lexington Institute analyst who was paid by Boeing to research its tanker rival, said program delays ultimately killed the Wichita plant.
“If Boeing would have started building tankers in Wichita three or four years ago, at this point, they would be looking at ways to put work inside the facility rather than take it out,” he told The Wichita Eagle.
Perhaps. But Boeing knew this two years ago when Kansan politicians went to bat for it during the competition. So the Thompson defense is really an indictment.
Boeing simply had to act to salvage its reputation. And by renewing investment in Kansas, the company is hoping to pacify critics.
Will it work?
Probably. After all, what choice do Kansan politicians have but to put the past behind them and continue to offer tax incentives to Boeing?
A former defense tech and security affairs journalist, Schechter is an account supervisor at Spector & Associates. Previous experience includes time spent at the White House, Center for Strategic and International Studies, IDF Armored Corps and Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. He can be reached at Erik@SpectorPR.com
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