Bighorn Airways Inc.

Bighorn Airways Inc., headquartered in Sheridan, Wyoming, operates as a for-profit prime contractor specializing in fixed-wing aircraft services for federal wildland firefighting, smokejumper transport, and emergency aviation operations, competing predominantly full-and-open with a secondary footprint in Total Small Business set-asides.

The company delivers concrete aviation capabilities: exclusive-use and call-when-needed smokejumper flight services; paracargo and equipment delivery; reconnaissance and aerial firefighting support; search and rescue operations; and military freefall and static line training support. Bighorn operates a specialized fleet including CASA 212, Dornier 228, and DHC-8 turboprops from its Sheridan base and subordinate operational locations at Fort Wainwright, Alaska and other western fire camps. Recent representative work includes a $4.7 million Total Small Business delivery order from the National Interagency Fire Center for wildland firefighting aircraft services in Winthrop, Washington (awarded January 1, 2025, ultimate completion December 31, 2027); a $25.9 million single-award Total Small Business IDIQ from the Bureau of Land Management for exclusive-use fixed-wing smokejumper fire support services in Alaska (awarded March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2031); and a $827,219 Total Small Business contract from Naval Sea Systems Command for air charter services in support of the Undersea Warfighting Development Center Arctic Submarine Laboratory ice exercise in February 2022.

Customer concentration reflects a federal land-management and emergency-response footprint. The top five funding agencies account for 70% of awards: Department of the Interior Departmental Offices (130 awards), National Interagency Fire Center under the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management (117 awards, $833.8 million combined potential value), BLM Idaho Region (60 awards, $236.9 million), BLM Alaska Region (20 awards, $17.8 million), and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (17 awards). By potential value, the portfolio is anchored by Department of Defense United States Transportation Command (2 awards, $5.7 billion), National Interagency Fire Center (117 awards, $833.8 million), United States Special Operations Command (2 awards, $650 million), and Department of the Air Force Air Mobility Command (3 awards, $589.6 million). The divergence signals that Bighorn's high-volume customer (NIFC/Forest Service) places numerous smaller orders, while the DoD placeholders represent multi-billion-dollar IDV vehicles with minimal current draw.

Bighorn holds dominant positions on two large civilian IDVs: the National Smokejumper Aircraft Services-MATOC with NIFC (a $700 million Total Small Business single-award IDIQ effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2034) and the BLM AFS Exclusive Use Smokejumper Flight Services IDIQ for Alaska and Idaho operations ($10.8 million ceiling, Total Small Business set-aside, through March 31, 2027). The NIFC legacy light fixed-wing smokejumper aircraft contract (LEGACY CONTRACT 12024B20C9000, $19.6 million ceiling, Total Small Business, through December 31, 2024) anchors a substantial portion of task-order activity. Bighorn also holds a $32 million single-award IDIQ with BLM for exclusive-use smokejumper flight services at Boise, Idaho (awarded January 6, 2026, through February 28, 2031); a $10 million single-award IDIQ with BLM for high-wing multiengine turboprop services at Fort Wainwright (awarded April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2027); and a $650 million multiple-award IDIQ with U.S. Special Operations Command for military freefall and static line support (awarded February 12, 2025, through August 24, 2029). The top five parent vehicles account for 173 task orders and $59.5 million in combined potential value.

Activity has grown year over year since 2022, peaking at 55 awards in 2024 before declining to 26 in 2025 and 10 so far in 2026 (as of June 27). The recompete window over the next twenty-four months presents exposure: eight awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $41 million, including portions of the legacy NIFC contracts and several BLM Idaho Region deliveries.

Bighorn operates 100% as a prime contractor with no recorded subcontract footprint in the source data. SCI-reported service-contract invoicing totaled $39.1 million across FY2022–FY2024 ($15.8 million in FY2022 across 15.8 FTEs, $12.2 million in FY2023 across 9.6 FTEs, and $11.1 million in FY2024 across 4.4 FTEs). The FTE decline across the period reflects contract completion and consolidation rather than workforce contraction; SCI captures only service contracts above the $150,000 threshold and excludes aircraft and goods-centric work, which dominate Bighorn's actual portfolio. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable contracts ran around $628/hr at the median, with senior labor pricing through $5,139/hr and entry-level positions at $410/hr. The vendor performs all work directly with no recorded subcontractor engagement on SCI-reportable prime contracts.

Bighorn's award footprint is narrowly concentrated in NAICS 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation, 254 awards) and PSC H2200 (Passenger Air Charter, 271 awards), with secondary exposure in natural resources and forest-fire suppression (141 awards under PSC T116). The vendor competes predominantly full-and-open on BLM and NIFC work but holds recurring Total Small Business set-asides on the largest vehicle positions, anchoring a stable relationship with federal land-management and emergency-response agencies across the western United States, Alaska, and select DoD special operations requirements.