The aerospace industry isn’t a “fat cat” and shouldn’t be targeted for tax hikes and cutbacks, Aerospace Industries Association president Marion Blakey said Wednesday. Speaking at an industry lunch in Washington, D.C., she claimed that the “top five companies combined” in the US aerospace sector “are one-half the size of Wal-Mart” in terms of sales, and argued that the industry shouldn’t be disproportionately targeted for “inappropriate” budget cuts. The huge positive contribution that aerospace makes to the nation’s balance of trade suggests that the industry should be allowed to continue to offer its share of “prosperity” to American workers, she said. Foreign military sales “will contract if we’re forced to close production lines,” Blakey asserted.
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.