FY25 CRAF RFI.docx

UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

508 SCOTT DRIVE

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, ILLINOIS 62225-5357

14 August 2023

MEMORANDUM FOR POTENTIAL OFFERORS

FROM: USTRANSCOM TCAQ-CP

SUBJECT: Follow-on Acquisition for Charter Airlift Services in Support of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF), Request for Information (RFI)

The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) Acquisition Directorate (TCAQ) is conducting market research in support of the follow-on acquisition for Charter Airlift Services in Support of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). The CRAF Program is a national plan, based on the Defense Production Act of 1950 and Executive Order 12656, to utilize aircraft resources of United States (U.S.) air carriers when needed to support Department of Defense (DoD) airlift requirements in an airlift emergency or national emergency. In return for a commitment to the CRAF program, airlines are afforded access to day-to-day business under this and/or other various DoD and General Service Administration contracts. Under this contract, contractors are required to provide international long-range and short-range airlift services during peacetime. During CRAF activation, the contractor is required to provide both international and domestic airlift services. The contractor’s responsibilities include but are not limited to: (1) airlift services utilizing DoD approved aircraft, (2) passenger services, (3) cargo services, (4) mission coordination and (5) CRAF program participation.

USTRANSCOM will not be obligated to pursue any acquisition alternative as a result of this RFI. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for an information received from any sources responding to this questionnaire. Response to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract or agreement. All responses will be kept confidential.

Please complete the attached questionnaire no later than 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time, 28 August 2023 and email the file to Abbie Haas at abbie.m.haas.civ@mail.mil, Jonathan Brunick at jonathan.c.brunick.civ@mail.mil, Sarah Vazzi at sarah.a.vazzi.civ@mail.mil and Scott Rader at scott.e.rader.civ@mail.mil. We solicit and appreciate your open and honest response to the questions contained herein, as they will provide valuable insight and direction in the development of a future solicitation.

MARKET RESEARCH QUESTIONAIRE

Directions: This document has been saved as a form. As such, you can only enter data where you see a shaded area.

Company Name:

Size (No. of Employees) of Company:

CAGE Code:

Respondent Name:

Respondent Phone Number:

Respondent Email Address:

Company Website:

Please indicate whether the below sizes/statuses apply to your company. Note: The size standard for small business for North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 481212 – Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation and 481211 – Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation is 1500 employees or less.

Small Business

Veteran-Owned Small Business

Small Disadvantaged Business

HUBZone

Service-Disabled Veteran-owned

Woman-Owned Small Business

Large Business

Foreign-Owned Corporation

1.Contract Length.

a) What is a typical contract length under your commercial contracts? Are option periods included in your commercial contracts?

Response:

b) The current contact is a long-term contract (6 years). What would be the ideal contract length?

c) What type of flexibility/incentives would you recommend be included in a long-term contract?

2. Aircraft Fleet.

a) When sizing and managing your fleet, do you take CRAF requirements into future planning considerations?

b) When was the last time your fleet was resized due to current market demands and aging aircraft?

c) The current contract allows for fleet build every two years. What changes, if any, do you recommend for the fleet build submission for the next contract?

3. Incentive/Entitlement.

a) How might the entitlement program be better structured to maintain a long-term contract?

b) The current contract recalculates entitlement every two years when the fleet build is redone with minor changes the opposite years. What changes, if any, do you recommend for the entitlement program?

c) New carrier entries currently are unable to be considered for entitlement until the following option period under the current contract. What changes, if any, do you recommend for new carriers entering the CRAF program for entitlement purposes?

4. Schedule Reliability.

a) How is schedule reliability calculated under your commercial contracts?

b) Under the current contract, the Government computes schedule reliability at the segment level. What are the advantages/disadvantages with tracking reliability at the segment level vs. mission level?

5. What minimum level of business is required to provide the Government with the wartime capability through your CRAF commitments?

6. What lead time is most beneficial for the Government and the contract (cost and other factors considered for awarding missions?

Response:

7. Are teaming arrangements beneficial to the enterprise? What changes, if any, do you recommend to the current teaming arrangement requirements in the contract?

Response:

8. How do the Government’s requirements vary from your commercial business?

Response:

9. During activation, the current contract requires a 4:1 crew ratio. What is the standard crew ratio for commercial business? What changes, if any, do you recommend during an activation for the crew ratio requirements?

10. What guidance do you suggest would help with activation timelines and continuing a readiness program?

Response:

11. Are the exercises performed beneficial to carriers? Do you feel the need to participate in the exercises?

Response:

12. MOU/Uniform Rates and Rules (URR).

a) The current CRAF URR is based off the weighted guidelines accounting for various risk factors. Are the risk factors still reflective of the current market?

b) Depreciation for new aircraft is set at 14 years, 2 percent residual (narrowbody) and 16 years and 10 percent residual (widebody) aircraft. Depreciation for used aircraft is set at 10 years and 5 percent residual (narrowbody and widebody aircraft). The economic life standards for rotables are 10 years and zero percent residual. How does this differ from depreciation cycles supported by your accounting system?

c) Currently the rate is based off carriers with revenues equating to 5% or greater of the class weighting. Revenue is based off the current fiscal year dollars plus the prior fiscal year dollar. However, carriers may submit cost and pricing data under any circumstances. Do you have any concerns with the 5% threshold set in the MOU?

d) Currently the URR is based on a two-year cycle. The first year (base year) is based off historical cost data escalated to the rate year. The second year is based off applying 12 month’s escalation to the base year rate. Do you have any concerns with the 2-year URR cycle as documented in the MOU and the rates that have been produced using this method?

13. Please provide any comments/concerns you feel are relevant and need to be addressed to this proposal acquisition.

Response:

Thank you for your time and effort to complete this survey.

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