Seeking sources: light lift helicopter services - multiple opportunities in national forests located in washington, idaho, and montana

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. ALL QUESTIONS MUST BE IN WRITING AND EMAILED TO THE CONTRACTING SPECIALIST. CONTACT INFORMATION BELOW.

REQUIREMENTS

The FAA is seeking to identify capable vendors interested in bidding on the following separate projects for light lift helicopter services. These projects will support site inspections of various remote United States Forest Service (USFS) observation towers.

This requirement information is tentative and subject to change.

LIFT PROJECT 1

VIC: Okanogan-Wenatchee and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests (North Central WA)

Estimated Date: June 14th -15th, 2025

Estimated Duration: 2 Full Days

Pick-Up Location: To be proposed (seeking most cost-efficient solution)

Site 1: Duncan, landing zone (48°3'16.17"N, 120°39'14.55"W)

Site 2: Park Butte Lookout, landing zone (48°42'59.61"N, 121°51'23.38"W)

Site 3: Lookout Mountain Lookout, landing zone (48°33'7.82"N, 121°19'45.36"W)

Payload: 2 Personnel with tool handbags (est. 500lbs)

LIFT PROJECT 2

VIC: Flathead National Forest (Northwestern MT)

Estimated Date: June 15th – 16th, 2025

Estimated Duration: 2 Full Days

Pick-Up Location: To be proposed (seeking most cost-efficient solution)

Site 1: Stoney Hill, landing zone (47°55'29.76"N, 113°34'55.71"W)

Site 2: Spotted Bear Mountain, landing zone (47°54'14.30"N, 113°26'26.43"W)

Site 3: Baptiste Lookout, landing zone (48°7'30.95"N, 113°39'32.33"W)

Payload: 2 Personnel with tool handbags (est. 500lbs)

LIFT PROJECT 3

VIC: Idaho Panhandle National Forest (Northern Panhandle ID)

Estimated Date: August 8th, 2025

Estimated Duration: 1 Full Day

Pick-Up Location: To be proposed (seeking most cost-efficient solution)

Site 1: West Fork Smith Lookout, landing zone (48°49’56.81”N, 116°45’4.24”W)

Site 2: Saddle Mountain Lookout, landing zone (48°57’1.28”N, 116°46’15.43”W)

Payload: 2 Personnel with tool handbags (est. 500lbs)

LIFT PROJECT 4

VIC: Wallowa-Whitman & Payette National Forests (Northeastern OR & West Central ID)

Estimated Date: September 10th – 12th, 2025

Estimated Duration: 3 Full Days

Pick-Up Location: To be proposed (seeking most cost-efficient solution)

Site 1: Somers Point landing zone (45°36'31.5"N, 116°33'46.5"W)

Site 2: Pittsburg Admin landing zone (45°37'49.0"N, 116°28'41.7"W)

Site 3: Lookout Mountain (45°18'42.9"N, 116°43'40.0"W)

Site 4: Granite Mountain Lookout (45° 5'36.38"N, 116°12'26.47"W)

Site 5: Mt Ireland (44°50'12.77"N, 118°19'13.73"W)

Payload: 2 Personnel with tool handbags (est. 500lbs)

LIFT PROJECT 5

VIC: Colville National Forest (North Central WA)

Estimated Date: September 12th, 2025

Estimated Duration: 1 Full Day

Pick-Up Location: To be proposed (seeking most cost-efficient solution)

Site 1: Bonaparte Lookout landing zone (48°47'6.98"N, 119°7'20.31"W)

Payload: 2 Personnel with tool handbags (est. 500lbs)

All dates and locations are estimates only at this time but should be anticipated to be fairly accurate to what will likely occur. More details are provided in the attached draft requirement documents attached. In response to this announcement, interested vendors are encouraged to submit concerns, comments or questions if any additional information would likely be needed to fully price proposals later when the FAA is ready to solicit them.

SEEKING SOURCES -- MARKET SURVEY

This is not a request for proposals. At this time the nature of the competition or set-aside status for small business concerns has not yet been determined.

The purpose of this market survey is to solicit statements of interest from capable vendors to establish competition pools for each separate lift project. If interested in any of these lift projects, please respond to this announcement to be considered for direct solicitation(s) under a simplified acquisition process. This is a continuous announcement that will remain open until small business set-asides and competition pools can be established for all the projects above.   

Current registration in System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is required to be considered. The FAA will not wait or delay solicitation activities, when ready, for any vendors to create new accounts or reactivate expired accounts. If interested in any of these separate projects, please ensure your company’s SAM registration is active and current as soon as possible.

The FAA anticipates separate Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract awards for each lift project described above with lowest price being the main award decision factor. The FAA may decide to pursue a full and open competition or set aside all or part of the procurement for small businesses, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) or eligible socially and economically disadvantaged businesses that are certified by the SBA for participation in the SBA's 8(a) Program.

This announcement is not a request for proposals of any kind. The FAA will not pay for any information received or costs incurred in preparing the response to the market survey. Therefore, any cost associated with the market survey submission is solely at the interested vendor’s expense.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes and size standards for this effort is 481211, Nonscheduled Chartered passenger Air Transportation.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

The FAA requests interested vendors to address the requirements in the attached draft requirements and specification document. This document is provided for feedback and comments.

Each vendor should include the following information along with their submission:

A. Capability Statement - This document should identify:

1. Company Name, POC, and contact information
2. Statement of interest to submit a proposal in a competitive environment.
3. Your company’s System for Award Management (SAM) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) code. 
4. Describe any recent previous contracts performed similar in scope and magnitude.

B. Clearly state whether you can provide all services listed in the draft requirements document.

1. Which lift project is your company interested in providing a proposal for
2. What Type/Model/Series of aircraft would your company provide if awarded a contract for the lift project you are interested in?
3. What known or perceived unique challenges exist in performing these lift services that the FAA should be aware of? 

C. Expected programmatic approach (in-house, teaming, subcontracting, etc.)

1. How much of the project would your company directly perform?
2. How much of the project would your company subcontract?
3. Is your company partnering with another company? Please elaborate intended distribution of efforts if so.  

The FAA expects this announcement to remain open until acquisition strategies and competition pools can be established for all lift projects, or until all lift projects associated with this announcement are officially solicited for proposals, whichever occurs sooner. The FAA reserves the right to extend, modify, or cancel this announcement at any time, for any reason, and without notice.

The FAA requests that all submittals, including attachments, be submitted electronically to the following: Email: joshua.d.huckeby@faa.gov

Please include "MARKET SURVEY RESPONSE: NF Lift Project _(project number of interest)__” in the subject line of your email. The information provided will not be publicly released but please mark PROPRIETARY on all documents submitted as necessary.

The Acquisition Management System (AMS) is the FAA’s governing acquisition regulation over the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). You can learn more about the AMS at the following public website: https://fast.faa.gov/PPG_Procurement.cfm.