Boeing is facing an uphill battle as it tries to overturn the U.S. Air Force's decision to award a $35-billion contract to a competing Airbus design for the KC-X refueling tanker. Arrogance about its relationship with the U.S. Defense Dept., lack of focus on customer requirements and reluctance to provide detailed pricing data contributed to Boeing's stunning loss late last month of a Pentagon contract to build aerial refuelers. "Boeing 'knew more than the customer' what the customer wanted, and in its arrogance it didn't listen," says a source close to the 767 tanker team. The proposal's executive group spent a lot of time "doing some soul-searching" as a result.
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