Acti
ng Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, less than two weeks in his new post, already is making his presence felt. Yesterday, USAF announced that he has delayed implementation of an initiative to realign aircraft maintenance units for fighter, bomber, and rescue platforms into their respective flying squadrons. The change, which had been developed over the past year, was set to commence July 1 and be complete by Nov. 30. But Donley put off the move “to have an opportunity to discuss the appropriateness and timeliness of these changes with Air Force senior leaders within the context of today’s new realities,” service spokeswoman Vicki Stein told the Daily Report yesterday. A decision on final implementation will not be made until after Donley has conducted these discussions, she said.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.