I have no doubt that Boeing is paying the overages, but I'm skeptical about who's getting the shaft in all of this.

It was unusual for Boeing to sign a fixed firm price contact for the KC-46, and everyone touted it as "great for the taxpayer" and all of that. I have to imagine Boeing has done some work on the back end to make sure they get their pound of flesh, though.

I'd suspect their is contractual language somewhere that guarantees Boeing the repair and overhaul work on the KC-46. This would be inline with Boeing's strategy to diversify into services offerings, vs strictly aircraft production.