The death today of US Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, means US Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Boeing/WA) will likely succeed him, and this is bad news for Northrop Grumman and its bid for the KC-X USAF aerial tanker.

Murtha supported a plan to split the buy between Northrop’s KC-30, based on the Airbus A330-200, and Boeing’s KC-767 despite opposition from the Department of Defense for a dual procurement. Murtha believed a split buy was the only solution that would win Congressional funding to replace the 50-year old Boeing KC-135s.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, co-founder of International Lease Finance Corp. and one of the most powerful voices in commercial aviation, retired on 5 February after more than 27 years in the leasing business.

His departure from ILFC was expected since the mega-lessor was plunged into a financial morass because of the massive scandal at its parent, AIG, which acquired ILFC in 1990 in what was then considered a masterful piece of timing. Only a year later, Iraq invaded Kuwait and aircraft, airline and lessor valuations plunged on the global economic crisis created by the subsequent Iraq War of 1991.

Last week was quite active in aerospace and so were we, unable to post. So here’s a recap of some of the things that occurred and our thoughts.

More politics and the Tanker

For the past two years we have bemoaned the politicizing of the procurement process for the KC-X tanker, extending our criticism mostly on previous Boeing efforts with its Congressional supporters–most notably Sen. Patty Murray (D-Boeing/WA) and Reps. Norm Dicks (D-Boeing/WA) and Todd Tiahrt (R-Boeing/KS). Now comes Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Northrop/AL) who, in a display that represents all the worst of what’s wrong with Congress, placed a hold on 70 Obama Administration appointments in a fit over his displeasure of the KC-X Request for Proposals and his belief it disadvantages the Northrop Grumman KC-30.

The Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance holds it annual conference Feb. 9-10 in Lynnwood (WA).

This growing conference is one of the premier events on the US West Coast. Airbus and Boeing Commercial are regular presenters; this year Boeing Defense, Space & Security and EADS North America are doing so for the first time. Lockheed Martin and Bombardier are also presenting.

The PNAA’s event page with the agenda, registration link and other information may be found here.

AirInsight has published a new report on The Boeing Co. This follows reports on Airbus, the emerging competitors to Airbus and Boeing and Re-Engining the A320 and 737 families published since August.

We co-authored these reports with Ernest Arvai and Addison Schonland of The Arvai Group and Innovation Analysis Group. The link to these reports is here.

The Boeing Co. report contains a competitive assessment vis-a-vis Airbus, updating our Airbus report published in August; a close look at Boeing’s programs; its relationship with labor; the prospect for replacing the 737 and 777 to meet Airbus competition; the KC-7A7 and more.