A report from a Pentagon watchdog on Tuesday, Oct. 29, said Boeing overcharged the U.S. Air Force for a dozen spare parts for C-17 transport planes. That included marking up soap dispensers by nearly 8,000% for the aircraft.
The U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General’s report shows that the U.S. Air Force overpaid nearly $1 million for various items, including nearly $150,000 for an unspecified number of soap dispensers for the planes from Boeing.
The watchdog warned that continued overpayments for spare parts could reduce the number of parts Boeing is able to purchase under the contract that runs through 2031 and impact C-17 readiness worldwide.
The U.S. military currently has more than 200 C-17s to carry cargo for military operations and humanitarian missions.
Boeing responded by saying the findings in the report rely on improper comparisons and fail to account for prices of parts specifically designed for military use.
The inspector general acknowledged that it could not find a fair price for the $22 million in spare parts the Air Force bought from Boeing because there is no historical database for prices for comparison.
