GAO - Air Force slanted Boeing bid

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force improperly favored The Boeing Co. on a $4 billion contract to upgrade C-130 cargo planes, congressional investigators said Thursday

The Government Accountability Office sided with Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems and L-3 Communications Inc., which complained last year that the C-130 contract award was tainted by the involvement of a former senior Air Force official who has admitted giving special treatment to Boeing.

Darleen Druyun, who later took a job at the Chicago-based airplane maker, is serving nine months in prison for violating federal conflict of interest laws.

The GAO said it normally would have recommended an entirely new competition. But because much of the C-130 contract has been in place for more than three years, that may not be practical, the agency said.

The report recommended that the Air Force hold new competitions for the remaining parts of the contract.