One Iowa politician says he’ll be looking closely at the Air Force’s decision to award a contract for new tanker aircraft to the European AIRBUS company over Boeing in the U.S. Second district Congressman, Dave Loebsack, says Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids would have played a big part is the contract had been awarded to Boeing.
Loebsack says it would have meant an additional 1,600 jobs in Iowa. Loebsack is on the House Armed Services Committee. He says he’ll work with members of the House to be sure they hold the Air Force accountable for the decision that they made.
The Alcoa aluminum plant in Riverdale, Iowa would also have been a supplier for the plane, as would Carleton Life Support Systems in Davenport. Business leaders in the Quad Cities had led a lobbying effort to try and get the contract awarded to the U.S. bid.