Solicitation 1406-08-80-ARA is seeking vendor flight services for a Aircraft Rental Agreement (ARA) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) at the National Level (includes Alaska and Hawaii).

Solicitation 1406-08-80-ARA is seeking flight services for a Aircraft Rental Agreement (ARA) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) at the National Level (includes Alaska and Hawaii) in support of the Department of the Interior, and other Aviation Management customers. Request is for fully vendor operated and maintained flight services to be used on an as-needed basis, consisting of small helicopter (not more than 7,000 pounds approved gross weight) and fixed-wing aircraft capable for use in support of various resource missions. Vendors who currently have an ARA agreement will need to provide a new proposal under this solicitation. Once this ARA solicitation is awarded and inspections completed, the current ARA will expire. Terms and conditions and the scope of work under the ARA program have changed, so it is important for offerors to read this solicitation. Interagency Fire management activities are no longer under the ARA program. Aircraft used on this agreement must possess and be operated and maintained under provisions of 14 CFR Part 121 or 14 CFR Part 135. Orders placed under the ARA BPA shall not exceed $25,000 per order. Offerors for this ARA solicitation will be required to submit their proposals in accordance with ARA Section D "Information to Offerors," and will include completion of forms identified in Section A and E.

NOTE: Small helicopters supporting interagency fire management activities must be under an exclusive use or on call (OC) contract if the operator wishes to do business with DOI for fire management activities. If you operate these types of aircraft and are interested in continuing your for fire support to the DOI under DOI procurement systems, you will need to submit a proposal under 8008-05, which is currently open for bids with the same closing date as this ARA solicitation. If an individual aviation vendor holds a DOI ARA and the same services can be provided via the on-call helicopter contract, the ARA may be cancelled. We plan on eliminating duplicate procurements when possible. It is a requirement that any successful awardee must be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) prior to award being made. It is the offeror's responsibility to ensure registration is accurate and valid. Solicitation information will be available through the FEDBIZOPPS site (found under Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, NBC, Aviation Management Headquarters, Boise, ID) and at http://amd.nbc.gov. This solicitation is set aside for small business concerns. AFTER READING THE SOLICITATION, questions may be directed to Matt DeLong, 208-433-5029, Matt_DeLong@nbc.gov. Closing date for receipt of offers for is May 6, 2008 at 2:00 pm Mountain Time. The anticipated date of award is May 15, 2008 with multiple ARA awards being made.