U.S. Appeals Court Lifts Ban on KC-135 Maintenance Work

Boeing now has authority to begin programmed depot maintenance work on the U.S. Air Force's aging fleet of KC-135 Tankers after a U.S. Federal Appeals Court overturned a lower court's ruling that prevented the work.  The lower court made the ruling on behalf of Alabama Aircraft Industries, which had protested the $1.1 billion contract award last year.  All the more important since these KC-135's are more than 50 years old, and they require a lot of structural and preventative maintenance to keep these flying gas-stations in the air.  And with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the fact that the new Air Force Tanker-Replacement Program for the KC-135 fleet is still undecided, it is vitally important that Boeing get to work on keeping these planes safe and airworthy for our warfighters.

News Link

Below is a copy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's ruling on the matter:

Court Ruling

Photo Credit / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0