Beechcraft protests Air Force contract decision again

Beechcraft is protesting for the second time the Air Force’s decision to award a contract for planes to the Afghan military to Sierra Nevada Corp. and Brazil’s Embraer.

The company announced plans Friday to file a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the $427 million light air support aircraft that was awarded last week.

“Following our debrief with the Air Force earlier this week, we are very perplexed by this decision,” Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture said in a statement. “Our belief that we have the best aircraft was confirmed by the Air Force rating our aircraft ‘exceptional’ and the fact that we are the lower cost solution was confirmed by the USAF’s public award announcement.”

The protest is the second time Beechcraft is attempting to stop the Air Force from moving forward with the contract to build 20 Embraer Super Tucano planes for the Afghans.

Last year, after then-named Hawker Beechcraft filed suit, the Pentagon scrapped its contract award to Embraer and required the companies to re-submit bids for the Air Force contract. The Air Force said it had canceled the contract award due to internal documentation problems.

But this year the contract was once again awarded to Embraer and Sierra Nevada.

Wichita, Kan.-based Beechcraft emerged from bankruptcy last month, and the company had hoped that winning the contract for its AT-6 planes would have helped it move forward.

Beechcraft said in its statement that 1,400 jobs are in jeopardy as a result of the Air Force decision.

---