Would-be tanker bidder loses protest

A California company working with Ukrainian planemaker Antonov lost a protest over the U.S. Air Force's decision to reject its bid for the tanker program. The bid arrived five minutes late, but U.S. Aerospace claimed the Air Force conspired to prevent the bid from arriving in time. A protest was filed with the Government Accountability Office in August, and in mid-September the GAO rejected part of the claim. Wednesday's decision fully denied U.S. Aerospace's claim. (Source: Washington Post, Bloomberg, 10/06/10) Gulf Coast note: EADS, which hopes to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala., and Boeing, which will build them in Washington, remain the only competitors for the $40 billion contract.