Nex Gen Air Tankers Could Call Fairchild Home

SPOKANE (AP) — A group of military experts are planning a visit to Spokane to determine whether Fairchild Air Force Base would be a good fit for the nation's next generation of air-refueling tankers.

The Spokesman-Review reports the Air Force has scheduled a meeting for Thursday to study the potential impacts of housing the new Boeing KC-46A Pegasus airplanes at Fairchild. If approved, Spokane would get the tankers sometime after 2020.

The planes are designed as a replacement to the KC-135 Stratotankers that have flown from Fairchild since the 1950s.

The Air Force had announced last year that Fairchild was one of five finalist bases in the running to receive the new planes. The other four bases are in Delaware, California, New Jersey and North Dakota.

Spokane lost its bid for the first round of new tankers in 2013 to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.