Boeing May Lose $500M In Air Force Tanker Contract

Under a fatty 179-aircraft contract signed by Boeing and the U.S. Air Force, any costs that go over the $4.8 billion budget agreed to will be absorbed by Boeing. And according to new estimates, Boeing is set to do a lot of absorbing.

Bloomberg:

Boeing is projected to exceed by as much as $500 million the cost ceiling on its contract to develop new refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force, or about $200 million more than previous estimates, according to the Defense Department.

One military official summed up what certainly seems to be the case in the KC-46 Air Tanker contract, saying of Boeing "if they get to $4.9 billion, they get zero profit.''

Boeing so far has no response to the idea that the company is set to lose loads of cash on what should be a hugely profitable contract.