Clearwater Airco, LLC

Clearwater Airco, LLC, a self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Anchorage, Alaska, operates as a fixed-wing aviation services prime contractor specializing in on-call passenger air transport, aerial surveys, and exclusive-use air attack flight support for federal land management, environmental research, and emergency response operations across Alaska and the western United States. Clearwater Airco competes predominantly in full-and-open and total small business set-aside procurements; the vendor is a subsidiary of Ponderosa Aviation Inc., a Subchapter S corporation based in Safford, Arizona.

Clearwater Airco's federal capability portfolio centers on NAICS 481211 (nonscheduled chartered passenger air transportation), which accounts for 98 of 109 recent prime awards. Representative work includes a $1.21 million fixed-price-with-economic-price-adjustment delivery order from the Bureau of Land Management's Idaho Region, awarded June 11, 2026, for exclusive-use air attack flight services with performance at Fort Wainwright, Alaska and completion targeted for September 8, 2026; a $118 thousand purchase order from the U.S. Geological Survey for logistic support and reconnaissance flights locating Pacific walrus aggregations in the Bering and Chukchi Seas during June 2026; and a $150.8 thousand delivery order from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for on-call aerial survey support for Cook Inlet beluga whale research, awarded June 1, 2025.

Customer concentration sits predominantly with the Department of the Interior. The top five customer agencies account for 70 percent of awards by count, led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (29 awards, $40.3 million combined potential value) and the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region (11 awards, $35.2 million). By potential value, concentration shifts to the Interior Business Center (9 awards, $65.6 million combined potential value), which issues task orders under multiple-award fixed-wing on-call indefinite delivery contracts serving all Interior bureaus. The U.S. Geological Survey and NOAA appear in the customer set but carry substantially lower award volumes ($175.1 thousand and $980 thousand respectively across multiple small purchase orders for walrus and beluga surveys).

Clearwater Airco holds two active prime indefinite delivery contracts: an $18.6 million multiple-award total small business set-aside through the Interior Business Center running through March 31, 2031, for fixed-wing on-call flight services supporting fire and resource management, law enforcement, and transportation missions across Alaska; and a $9 million single-award total small business set-aside with the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region through April 30, 2029, for exclusive-use air attack services in Billings, Montana and Fairbanks, Alaska. The vendor also places task orders under five legacy BPAs and indefinite delivery contracts, including the DOI Fixed Wing Flight Services Alaska/Hawaii 2017-2018 vehicle (19 task orders, $1.2 million combined potential value) and an indefinite delivery contract with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (10 task orders, $9.9 million combined potential value).

Award activity has declined from five awards in 2022 to three in each of 2024, 2025, and 2026, though dollar concentration has shifted upward toward the newer Interior Business Center and BLM Idaho Region IDIQs. Only one award (combined potential value $1.2 million) completes within the next twenty-four months, presenting minimal near-term recompete exposure. The vendor operates as a 100-percent prime contractor with no documented subcontract footprint and competes across full-and-open and total small business set-aside categories without concentration in any single set-aside posture.