On-Call Air Tactical Flight Services 2014-2017

The Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center established this Master IDIQ on February 25, 2014 for contractor-operated and maintained on-call fixed-wing flight services in the Conterminous 48 States, with ordering closed as of December 31, 2017. This vehicle is no longer active; the ordering period ended more than eight years ago, and the most recent task order awarded was in October 2017.

The IDIQ contracted for air tactical operations, aerial fire reconnaissance and detection, law enforcement limited to nonthreatening surveillance and reconnaissance, and administrative and related resource activities in support of natural resource missions. Task orders issued under the vehicle focused primarily on fire suppression support for the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service, with ancillary work including wild horse and burro inventory flights, phosphate mining lease area surveys, and training operations.

Sixty task orders were awarded across the vehicle's active period, with annual ordering peaking at 18 orders in 2014 and 2016, then declining to 14 in 2017. The combined potential value of all task orders was $8 million, fully obligated across the four-year period. The shared ceiling was $6 million, exceeded by approximately $2 million through the task-order awards.

Competition concentrated among five primes capturing 85 percent of combined potential value: Spur Aviation Services, LC held 11 orders worth $2 million; Avcenter Inc. held 8 orders worth $1.8 million; Orion Aviation, Inc. held 6 orders worth $1.4 million; Ponderosa Aviation Inc. held 9 orders worth $1.1 million; and Taylor Aviation, Inc. held 3 orders worth $484 thousand. A longer tail of eight additional small aviation firms shared the remaining 15 percent. About 27 percent of task orders were designated for small business, with the remaining 73 percent unrestricted. Customer concentration was heavy: the Bureau of Land Management's Idaho Region placed 40 orders worth $5.8 million, representing 92 percent of the total activity. Secondary customers included Interior Business Center, Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management, BLM Nevada Region, and Forest Service Northern Region. Task-order values ranged from under $2 thousand to approximately $756 thousand, with most orders representing discrete fire season or project-specific mobilizations priced as firm fixed price.

The Department of Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate-Boise, ID has awarded a Master IDIQ for Contractor-operated and maintained on-call (OC) fixed wing flight services to transport personnel and/or cargo in support of Government natural resource missions in the Conterminous 48 States. Mission activities may include, but are not limited to, air tactical operations, aerial fire reconnaissance and detection, law enforcement limited to nonthreatening surveillance and reconnaissance, and other administrative and related resource activities.