The Air Force on Thursday awarded a $35 billion contract for aerial fueling tankers to Boeing rather than its rival, European-based Airbus.

The announcement came from the Pentagon after the financial markets closed.

News of winning the intensely-contested and long-awaited contract comes as welcome relief for Boeing employees and families living in recession-stricken Washington state and Kansas, where much of the work on the tanker will be done. The order is for 179 aircraft.

According to Boeing officials, the tanker contract will generate an estimated 50,000 direct and indirect jobs in the United States. Boeing plans to assemble the tankers at its Everett plant and ship them to Wichita, Kan., for final equipping.

“This is great news, and I’m very happy for the Boeing company, its employees, and the entire state of Washington,” said U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert, R-Washington. “The Department of Defense reevaluated their original decision, this time considering the serious security implications involved, and rightly settled on Boeing – a company with decades of industrial knowledge, established infrastructure, and an army of skilled engineers that are capable of producing the best refueling tanker for our Armed Forces.

“With this decision, we not only gain a source of much-needed job creation in the region, but we also reassure our troops that we are committed to serving them, just as they have committed to serving for us.”

Added U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington:
“Today’s long-awaited decision by the Pentagon is the right one for our military, our taxpayers and our nation’s aerospace workers.

“At a time when our economy is hurting and good-paying aerospace jobs are critical to our recovery, this decision is great news for the skilled workers of Everett and the thousands of suppliers across the country who will help build this critical tanker for our Air Force.

“This decision is a major victory for the American workers, the American aerospace industry and America’s military. And it is consistent with the President’s own call to ‘out-innovate’ and ‘out-build’ the rest of the world.”