Bush OKs Plan to Lease 20 Boeing Tankers
The Bush administration has accepted a proposal that the Air Force lease just 20 Boeing Co. 767s as refueling tankers, not the 100 the service had proposed, said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Levin and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the No. 2 Republican on the panel, said the committee’s lease-purchase plan would be part of the defense authorization budget being negotiated by a joint committee of Congress.
The deal would allow the Air Force to immediately lease 20 aircraft and to buy the remaining 80 under the formal budgeting process. Boeing stock fell 13 cents to $38.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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