Print edition: 
Wichita has to think globally about aerospace these days, and it does. For example, it enthusiastically welcomed the recent expansion of Airbus North America Engineering to another building in Old Town with the expectation of 80 to 100 more jobs in Wichita. As Sedgwick County Commissioner Tim Norton said at last week's ribbon-cutting event, "It's hard to say you're the Air Capital without the presence of Airbus — one of the premier companies in the world."
But local loyalty to Airbus has its limits, especially in the long-running fight over which company should build the U.S. Air Force's new air-refueling tankers.
The arguments in favor of a 767-based Boeing tanker include the members of a skilled American work force whose tanker building already has been tested over the decades and who, frankly, need the work as much as the Air Force needs to replace its fleet.
It may be a distortion to call the Airbus aircraft the "French tanker," as Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, does with such relish. A $35 billion tanker contract with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., which owns Airbus, would involve some American jobs. But a Boeing contract promises more, including in Wichita.
And many Americans would question how the Pentagon could even consider giving such a crucial military contract to a foreign company, especially in a time of war.
As if that argument weren't enough to tip the tanker competition in Boeing's favor, this week's World Trade Organization ruling on Airbus ought to do the trick.
In a case dating from 2004, the WTO concluded that Airbus jets had benefited from billions of dollars of illegal subsidies from four European governments over 40 years, unfairly leaving Boeing and the rest of the American aerospace industry at a competitive disadvantage and fueling a sharp decline in Boeing's global market share.
"This is about fairness, not protectionism, and right now the competition is not fair. The evidence is in," Tiahrt said in a statement. "It is now the responsibility of the Obama administration to level the playing field for American workers and stop pandering to the interest of European governments."
At the very least, it will make it harder for the Pentagon not to consider the nearly $5 billion in subsidies Airbus received for the A330, which is the airframe for its tanker.
"Especially at a time when jobs are desperately needed, the Pentagon can no longer ignore this unfair advantage that hurts American workers," Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, said in a statement.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., speaking at a bipartisan press conference, said: "When one competitor faces an obvious advantage, it should be reflected in the competitive process, because disregarding it creates an unfair playing field."
And Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said: "This should be the last nail in the coffin for Airbus' efforts on the tanker contract."
As the WTO ruling confirms, awarding the tanker contract to Airbus would reward EADS and its government funders for the illegal subsidies. Kansans in Congress need to keep up their pressure on the Pentagon to ensure that doesn't happen.
