Draft SOW for Economic Consulting Services_6.11.2020.pdf

Economic Consulting Services for

Regulatory Analysis and Policy Support

C.1 Background

The Federal Aviation Administration periodically conducts regulatory and policy review work involving safety regulation of aviation, planning for future aviation needs, analysis of the impact of aviation on the environment, financial and investment analysis, and the provision of aviation facilities and services.

The Contractor will provide professional services to assist the FAA in conducting regulatory and policy review that includes analysis, evaluations, plans and information regarding FAA regulatory, environmental, safety, and service and facility development programs.

The Contractor will provide qualified employees to assist in the following general areas:

Aviation Economics, Regulatory Analysis, Airport System Performance, Air Carrier Industry Performance, Accident/Incident Analysis, Financial and Investment Analysis, Risk Analysis, Planning, and Policy Analysis.

This effort requires trained and experienced professionals in:

aviation regulatory analysis economics federal policy legislative research model simulation statistics/econometrics delay/capacity analysis

C.2 Work Scope

A. The scope of work is divided into fourteen task areas:

Task Area 1: Analyses of the economic impact of restrictions on access to the National Airspace System including airports. To support this task, the contractor may need to develop economic and policy tools as directed by the COR. Such tools may include models which measure airport and airspace delay.

Task Area 2: Analyses of the economic impacts of delay and congestion on service providers, customers, and the economy. These analyses may include an analysis of how delays (regardless of their cause) at one point in a system may cascade (through a network of airports) and result in delays at other points in the system. Examples of this type of economic analysis include, but are not limited to, the economic disruption of delays and flight cancellations caused at capacity constrained airports. The contractor must also be able to exam the impact of flight delays across the national airspace system at the ARTCC level with the ability to gauge secondary impacts on small communities.

Task Area 3: Analysis and quantification and/or validation of safety risk factors associated with aviation systems. This type of analysis is the foundation of most efforts to quantify the value of safety enhancements within the aviation system.

Task Area 4: Economic analysis, including risk analysis, in support of changes to the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR).

Task Area 5: Development of tools for legislative planning, policy analysis, performance management, strategic planning, and generalized economic analysis to support FAA’s objectives. Examples include the development of tools/studies to gauge the economic impact of proposed changes to FAA’s existing funding and regulatory structure.

Task Area 6: Analysis of aviation network system performance, and airport/airway capacity.

Examples include, but are not limited to, analyses of aircraft performance by location and phase of flight within the National Airspace System.

Task Area 7: Development of aviation forecasts including the demand for FAA services, which are the basis for determining future needs. Examples of forecasting include the development of the U.S. national fleet forecast for commercial aircraft operations and forecasts of unmanned aircraft systems, and commercial launch activities. Provide methodological assistance in all areas of forecast development and aviation network modeling.

Task Area 8: Studies and policy/economic analyses associated with all aspects of the development and coordination of U.S. government positions to be taken in aviation policy, including international bilateral and multi-lateral fora. Examples include the impact of mergers and acquisitions on airline domestic and international competition positions.

Task Area 9: Development of alternative methods to estimate benefits and costs in support of FAA policy and regulatory activities. Such methods may include the identification of both national and local impacts resulting from changes to FAA policy and regulations

Task Area 10: Economic and financial studies of airports to determine such things as financial needs, compliance with FAA rates and charges policies, access to capital markets, competition, and outcomes of public/private partnerships. Examples include, but are not limited to, detailed financial analysis of air carrier and airport financial statements and an examination of FAA’s rates and charges policies.

Task Area 11: Economic studies, including benefit/cost studies, to establish or support a fee structure (limited or comprehensive) to recover FAA costs. Examples include, but not limited to, cost allocation studies of FAA’s Air Traffic Costs, value of time in benefit-cost analysis of FAA investment decisions, assessment of user fees for international overflights, examination of modifications and/or alternatives to FAA funding mechanisms, and value of slots at capacity constrained airports.

Task Area 12: Estimation of economic and aviation parameter values to support benefit/cost studies. Examples of such parameter values include aircraft capacity and utilization factors, aircraft operating costs, and unit replacement and restoration costs of damaged aircraft.

Task Area 13: Economic, financial, and policy analysis of outsourcing and alternative governance structures.

Task Area 14: Conduct studies/analysis of the impact of U.S. Government policy on aviation and general economy. Examples of such studies include, but are not limited to, economic impact assessments of proposed federal projects.

B. Task Orders: All work will be assigned, controlled, managed, and accounted for by Government issued Task Orders. Task Orders will contain a scope of work, schedule for delivery, deliverables, how delivered and to whom, and FAA points of contact.

C. Staffing: The Contractor must provide sufficient technical personnel (in number, qualification, and professional experience) to perform this work. Labor categories utilized on any given Task Order will depend on the work to be accomplished. It is anticipated that the following labor categories will be required:

Project Manager

Task Team Leader

Subject Matter Expert

Senior Economist

Staff Economist

Junior Economist

Research Analyst

Operations Research Analyst

Planning Analyst

Statistician

Cost Estimator

Cost Accountant

Aviation Industry Analyst

Financial Analyst

Investment Analyst

Accountant

Program Analyst

Editor

Support Staff

Computer Programmer/Technician

D. Management: The Contractor must provide sufficient management oversight of their processes in order to ensure that:

All employees are functioning within their designated labor categories and at acceptable levels of performance.

All activities performed are covered by authorized Task Orders. Time spent on non-contract related activities must not be billed to the Government.

Positions are staffed promptly with qualified and competent personnel. Meeting staffing requirements with qualified personnel is a corporate responsibility rather than a project responsibility and, as such, is not directly billable to the Government.

All Contractor employees are performing their designated assignments in a timely manner and all reporting requirements are honored.

All progress reports are prepared and submitted IAW the contract

C.3 Progress Reports

On a monthly basis, the Contractor must prepare a Contract Progress Report which describes significant technical accomplishments of the month, identifies major milestones planned and achieved, and indicates current and cumulative expenditures by task in both dollars and labor hours.

The Contractor must include with the Progress Report a summary cover sheet, which must include (a) the financial status of the Contract (current and cumulative expenditures by category) and (b) a list of the status of each Task Order, i.e., completed, no activity undertaken, progress report enclosed. If there is a major problem with any Task Order or an item that should come to the Technical Officer's attention, a notation must be included.

Each report must be submitted concurrent with the monthly invoice.

The Contractor must furnish via email an electronic version of the report to the COR and the Contracting Officer. Each report must be applicable to a single Task Order and contain an administrative section and a financial management section. These sections must include, at a minimum, the following information:

Administrative Section:

The Contract number and Task Order number.

The reporting period.

A concise description of the work performed under the Task Order during the reporting period, in terms of the work accomplished, measured against work scheduled and deadlines established in the Task Order.

A concise description of the work that will be performed under the Task Order during the next reporting period, including a variance analysis from work scheduled and deadlines established in the Task Order.

A concise description of any technical or administrative problems that have arisen during the past reporting period under the Task Order, and problems that are expected to arise during the next reporting period.

A description of anticipated activities for the next month.

Financial Management Section:

The total charge for the reporting period and the cumulative total charge.

The charge, in dollars, by labor category, and task/deliverable during the reporting period and cumulatively.

The labor hours expended, by labor category, and task/deliverable during the reporting period.

The balance of funds at the end of the reporting period.

C.4 Briefing Requirements.

The Contractor must conduct technical presentations as specified in the Task Orders.