Without orders for additional C-17s, Boeing’s Long Beach, Calif., line could well close in 2008, after the 180th airplane is built. Giambastiani, though negative about the idea, left the door to production slightly ajar. He noted that the C-17 matter is “still in play right now,” as the Pentagon heads into the home stretch on its Quadrennial Defense Review. “There are lots of ways to skin a cat,” he said. Watch this space.
The Department of the Air Force wants to launch a construction boom with its fiscal 2027 budget, more than doubling its request over 2026, according to budget documents.