Central Copters, Inc.

Central Copters, Inc., a for-profit small business based in Belgrade, Montana, operates as a prime contractor providing helicopter-based aerial firefighting and wildfire suppression services to federal land management agencies on a full-and-open (non-set-aside) basis, with no subcontract footprint. The company holds two $50 million indefinite delivery contracts—one with the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service National Interagency Fire Center for Type 1 Helicopter Support Services through December 31, 2034, and a second with the Department of the Interior's National Park Service Intermountain Region for Type 2 Helicopter Support Services through December 31, 2033—enabling rapid call-when-needed deployment of an exclusive-use helicopter fleet for federal fire operations across the Western United States.

Central Copters' customer concentration is extreme and narrow. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), a joint Forest Service and Interior operation, accounts for 90 awards and $258.3 million of the company's $266.4 million combined potential value across 138 awards—representing 97% of all awards and 97% of all dollars. The remaining 1% of potential value is split among the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region ($5 million across two awards), the Interior Business Center ($232 thousand), the Forest Service directly ($201 thousand), and smaller Interior components. This concentration reflects Central Copters' structural position as a specialized aerial firefighting contractor with no diversification across federal customers or mission areas.

Task orders flow primarily through two vehicles. The Basic Ordering Agreement 12024B20G5010 carries 51 task orders valued at $20.1 million combined; the Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 IDIQ carries 33 task orders valued at $17 million. Other parent vehicles include Basic Ordering Agreement AG024BB155010 (3 task orders, $5 million) and Blanket Purchase Agreement IND80ARA0225 (4 task orders). All work is classified under NAICS 488290 (Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation, 103 awards) or 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation, 22 awards), with the remainder split among support PSC codes for air passenger charter and forest-range fire suppression. The company's work scope is consistent across all awards: fire retardant application drops, aerial reconnaissance, air attack supervision, and transportation of fire personnel and equipment, all performed from Belgrade, Montana on a firm-fixed-price basis.

Award activity has remained steady at 15–18 delivery orders per year over the past five years (2022–2026), with the most recent orders dated September 2026 for $686 thousand and $298 thousand respectively. The source carries 138 total prime awards spanning from 1998 through September 2026, with combined obligated dollars of $110.4 million (41% of potential value), signaling moderate annual invoicing relative to the large order pipeline. Central Copters competes without preferential treatment under any small business set-aside category—all recent awards carry "No Set-Aside Used" designations—placing the vendor in direct competition with other helicopter operators on open federal procurements.