Airbus Plant Headed For Alabama

To Compete With Boeing, Aircraft Maker Chooses Strategic Location

(AP)  "You're bringing in a whole bunch of top-level jobs. It was our opinion we did not want it to appear as if we cut some deal," said David Oliver Jr., chief executive for EADS North American Defense.

EADS, which is based in France and Germany, had said that it planned to offer a tanker version of its Airbus A330 passenger jet for the multibillion-dollar Air Force contract to produce a new generation of aerial refueling tankers.

Boeing spokesman Dan Beck declined to comment specifically on Wednesday's announcement.

Asked about the overall tanker program, Beck said: "There is not a competition [right now]. There is no tanker replacement program, so there is nothing for us to address at this point."

The immensely public search gave EADS some much-needed positive spin at a time when the U.S. and the European Union are engaged in a trade battle over the EU's subsidies to Airbus, which the U.S. claims gives it an unfair advantage over its chief rival, Boeing.

EADS hopes to get a substantial portion of an expected $9 billion in new spending for military tanker planes, but congressional leaders are trying to tie the subsidy debate to the contract decision.

"My only guess is the openness is political," said Charles Hill, a professor at the University of Washington School of Business who closely follows the aeronautics industry.

"They are trying to send a message," he said. "Their strategy is to have quite a bit of work done in the United States. It is clear they want to be seen as a global organization, not just a European one."

EADS and subsidiaries already have facilities in Mississippi and Alabama. EADS-owned American Eurocopter LLC opened a helicopter factory in Columbus, Miss., last year, and EADS North America this year invested in a new support center for Coast Guard patrol aircraft in Mobile near the proposed site for the tanker factory.