200K On Tanker Ads

A 200-thousand dollar advertising push is on in Washington DC about the Air Force tanker contract.

The ads are paid for by the Aerospace Alliance which is made up of leaders from Louisiana to Florida. They want the who's who in nation's capital to consider a split buy on the 40 billion dollar contract.The ad money is from a private donation.

Boeing and the Northrop Grumman EADS team have been locked in a competition for years. Northrop is even considering not bidding at all claiming the contest favors Boeing.

Neal Wade is with the Aerospace Alliance and says the split is a win-win for the country. "We believe that the decision makers are all situated there and they are gonna see that there are four states that believe there is an approach that is superior in terms of creating jobs and the timing of getting the tankers done."

A split buy would guarantee thousands of jobs on the Gulf Coast. The Pentagon has always said that buying two different tankers is too expensive.