C-17 Restart on the Table as Boeing and US Government Weigh Options

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III production line has been dormant since 2015, but a potential restart is being considered by Congress and Boeing.

A report from the House Armed Services Committee has ordered the Air Force to deliver a feasibility briefing on restarting the line by March 1, 2027. This comes after decades of debate about the aircraft's future, with some arguing it should be retired due to its age.

The C-17 is the backbone of American strategic airlift, but it has no comparable Western alternative in production. The current plan for the aircraft is to fly them through 2075, making them 80 years old at retirement.

Congress wants answers about whether it's possible to build more C-17s and how much it would cost. A RAND Corporation analysis from 2011 estimated $2.1, $2.7 billion in nonrecurring costs just to restart the line, depending on tooling retained.