Online Public Relations Thoughts

This is amusing. The Pentagon wants to extend the bid period for the much-fought-over aerial tanker contract that the Air Force has tried to conclude for years. Why? It doesn't want the contract to be a sole-source bid. The brass can see already the Congressional hearings and news headlines they will have to handle if Boeing, the current bidder, walks away with the deal. What is going on here is optics. The Pentagon wants the bid to look right and be able to claim that it was fairly awarded. If I were Airbus, I would refuse the offer. There is little chance that Airbus can win at this point, and it would spend millions for an exercise to make the Pentagon look good.

Labels: PR