Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center established a master IDIQ on January 1, 2025 for Type 1 Helicopter Support Services, with a combined potential value of $50 million and ordering authority through December 31, 2034. Ordering remains active with 8 years 5 months remaining; the vehicle is unrestricted and open to full and open competition.

The vehicle funds helicopter operations for wildland fire suppression, aerial ignition, short-haul, rappel, law enforcement surveillance, reconnaissance, and administrative missions across the United States. Work is performed nationwide, with primary performance in western wildfire regions, and administrative oversight at the National Interagency Fire Center.

Activity is heavy and concentrated. The vehicle has generated 642 task orders since award, with 483 issued in 2025 and 159 through mid-2026, tracking toward continued high velocity. Combined task-order dollars obligated stand at $721.9 million against $731.8 million potential value (99% obligated), significantly exceeding the vehicle's $50 million shared ceiling. Task orders are predominantly firm fixed price, with individual order ceilings typically ranging from $50,000 to $1.3 million and performance durations from immediate (call-when-needed) through multi-year arrangements extending to December 2029.

Five primes dominate award activity. Helicopter Transport Services, LLC leads by combined potential value at $218.3 million across 35 orders; Helicopter Express LLC holds 100 orders worth $57.3 million; Billings Flying Service LLC has 57 orders at $57.1 million; Siller Helicopters, LLC earned 38 orders worth $56.2 million; and Croman Corp has 65 orders valued at $28.9 million. These five firms hold roughly 57 percent of combined potential value across 46 percent of orders. An additional 29 contractors hold the remaining base.

Customer concentration is extreme: the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center placed 619 of 642 orders (96% of activity) valued at $708.3 million combined potential. Secondary customers—Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region, National Park Service Intermountain Region, and smaller Interior accounts—account for the remaining 23 orders and approximately $23.5 million combined potential.

Set-aside activity is minimal: 616 orders (96%) carry no set-aside designation; 26 orders (4%) are small-business awards. Pricing is evaluated via lowest-price technically acceptable methodology across a competitive field.