Reacting to the House’s May 27 vote making World Trade Organization rulings a factor in the Air Force’s KC-X tanker competition, EADS North America reiterated its stance that the Pentagon “should be allowed to run the fair and open competition” to which it has committed. “We leave it to the Department to comment on the extent to which this or any legislation impacts that objective,” EADS spokesman James Darcy told the Daily Report. He added that the company remains committed “to competing on the merits” if its tanker. Meanwhile, Boeing hailed the House’s vote, calling such measures “entirely appropriate” to ensure “a fair competition on a level playing field” in the face of EADS’ Airbus receiving improper aircraft subsidies. Such steps, Boeing contends, will prevent the US defense industrial base from “suffering the same fate” (i.e., thousands of lost jobs) as the US commercial aircraft industry. (See Requirements Creep above) (Boeing statement)
Active-Duty Airmen only have a few days left to submit an official waist-to-height ratio into the Air Force’s new online application. But the service clarified July 23 that this first body composition measurement is not meant to be scored as part of the new Physical Fitness Readiness Assessment, or PFRA