International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers : Local Lodge 2003: GAO Sustains Boeing Tanker Protest GAO Sustains Boeing Tanker Protest ================================================================================ IAM&AW International on June 19, 2008 03:56pm They said it couldn’t happen. The industry experts and defense analysts who track the aerospace industry said there was no way the Government Accounting Office (GAO) would ever recommend an overhaul of the $35 billion tanker contract that was awarded earlier this year to EADS/Airbus over Boeing.