DOI On-Call Helicopter Flight Services 2017-2018

The Interior Business Center, Department of the Interior, established this Master IDIQ for Type 3 helicopter flight services on May 1, 2017, with a final ordering deadline of April 30, 2019—now closed for seven years. The vehicle is fully spent: all $25.2 million in combined potential value across 646 task orders has been obligated, with the most recent order awarded in April 2022. This is a closed vehicle with no new ordering opportunity.

Activity declined sharply in the vehicle's final years. Task orders peaked at 133 per year in 2019, dropped to 99 annually in 2021, and fell to 42 in 2022 before closing. The vehicle succeeded a 2013 predecessor IDIQ of the same name. The original solicitation (D17PS00091) was set aside for Total Small Business, though task-order data shows 98 percent of awards used no set-aside designation and only 2 percent (15 orders) were designated Total Small Business.

Work contracted covers on-call helicopter transport and special-use operations for DOI and other federal agencies. Task orders show missions including wildland fire suppression, aerial seeding and reforestation, search and rescue, wildlife surveys, radio repeater and communications repair, personnel and material transport to remote sites, and specialized operations such as sewage and waste removal from backcountry locations. Geographic scope spans the continental United States and Hawaii, with heavy concentration in western public lands (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and specific operations in Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Florida, and Texas.

Competition concentrated among helicopter operators with regional presence. The top five primes by order count—HMC Helicopter Service LLC (68 orders), Northwest Helicopters LLC (56 orders), Hiline Helicopter Inc. (53 orders), Papillon Airways Inc. (52 orders), and Reeder Flying Service Inc. (47 orders)—accounted for 43 percent of all task orders. By potential value, Papillon Airways led with $5.4 million across 52 orders, followed by Reeder Flying Service ($3.9 million, 47 orders) and HMC Helicopter Service ($3.9 million, 68 orders). Five firms captured 61 percent of combined potential value. A wider field of 40 additional small helicopter operators shared the remainder.

Customer concentration was moderate. The top five ordering entities—NPS Pacific West Region (124 orders, $1.8 million), BLM Idaho Region (58 orders, $6.5 million), NPS Intermountain Region (58 orders, $1.2 million), BLM Nevada Region (42 orders, $2.1 million), and NPS Southeast Region (38 orders, $1.8 million)—placed 50 percent of all orders. DOI components dominated; outside customers included the Navy, NOAA, USDA NRCS, and other federal agencies using the vehicle opportunistically.

Task-order values were small and tactical. Individual orders ranged from a few thousand dollars to high six figures; representative 2022 orders obligated $116,390 (BIA operations in Arizona), $79,608 (BLM seeding in California), $75,000 (USGS field work), $41,014 (BLM seeding in Nevada), and $10,460 (BLM repeater mission in California). Some larger orders exceeded $300,000, including a wildland fire suppression order for $378,532 and a BLM aerial seeding order for $248,626. Most missions were short-duration (weeks to months) firm fixed-price contracts for immediate operational needs. The vehicle is exhausted and closed to new ordering.

Type 3 Helicopter flight services in support of DOI and other federal agencies for point to point and special use activities.