Boeing has agreed to pay $2 million to the Justice Department to settle the claims by Edward Quintana, a former Boeing employee and whistleblower, that the company overcharged the Air Force for KC-135 maintenance work between 2002 and 2005 at its facility in San Antonio. The San Antonio Express-News reported Tuesday that, despite the settlement, Boeing continues to deny any wrongdoing. Quintana’s lawsuit, filed in 2006, accused the company of falsifying billing records to inflate the amount of labor hours needed for KC-135 maintenance and repair activities. Under federal law, Quintana is reportedly entitled to 15 percent to 25 percent of the $2 million settlement. He is still fighting the company in court over what he believes was wrongful termination.
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.