Courtney Aviation, LLC

Courtney Aviation, LLC, a for-profit small business based in Columbia, California, operates as a prime contractor delivering wildland fire aviation services—aerial firefighting, fire detection, infrared mapping, air attack, and cargo and passenger transport—exclusively to federal wildfire management agencies. The vendor competes across both set-aside (Total Small Business) and full-and-open delivery orders, with 100% of recent awards held as prime contracts and zero subcontract exposure.

Courtney Aviation's customer concentration is extreme and monolithic. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), a component of the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, accounts for 60 of 75 awards (95% of award count) and $340.6 million of the $350.6 million combined potential value across the portfolio. The remaining four awards to the Department of the Interior represent noise relative to the NIFC dominance. This single-customer dependency creates both a sustained revenue stream and acute recompete risk; the vendor holds two primary IDIQ vehicles with NIFC that structure the relationship.

Courtney Aviation holds a $272.6 million multiple-award IDIQ for National Light Fixed Wing Services (total small business set-aside, through December 31, 2033) and a $6.1 million single-award IDIQ for national infrared mapping end products (total small business set-aside, expiring June 14, 2026). The National Light Fixed Wing Services IDIQ anchors the portfolio; 46 task orders valued at $12.9 million in combined potential value have been issued against it since award in January 2024. Individual delivery orders under both vehicles run fixed-price with economic price adjustment, typically valued between $40,000 and $660,000 per order, with performance periods extending through December 31, 2026. Recent representative task orders include a $658,150.63 delivery order in July 2024, a $455,816.42 order in September 2024, and multiple orders in the $200,000–$400,000 band across 2025 and into September 2026. All work is performed in Columbia, California.

Activity has grown substantially—two awards in 2022, four in 2023, eleven in 2024, and twenty-four in 2025—with twelve awards in 2026 to date. This trajectory reflects NIFC's expanded reliance on Courtney Aviation for sustained aerial support. However, thirty-four awards valued at $8.8 million combined potential reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, creating a near-term recompete exposure window, particularly as the $6.1 million infrared mapping IDIQ expires in June 2026. The infrared services vehicle is a single-award contract; loss of that award would eliminate one revenue stream entirely, though the larger National Light Fixed Wing Services IDIQ provides continuity if Courtney Aviation maintains competitive positioning on task-order competitions.

The portfolio NAICS profile emphasizes nonscheduled chartered passenger air transportation (55 awards) and nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation (11 awards), with a small infrared surveying and mapping component (2 awards). PSC coding aligns: 56 awards under Natural Resources/Conservation–Forest-Range Fire Suppression/Presuppression, with 17 awards coded as passenger air charter travel and 5 awards for valve equipment (likely aircraft components). The vendor is purely a specialized wildfire aviation provider with no diversification into other federal mission areas and no prime-level presence outside the Forest Service ecosystem.

Part 135 Charter Air Carrier, Specialized in Air Tactical Wild Land fire fighting, Air Attack, scenic tours of Yosemite, Seqouia/Kings Canyon, Death Valley National Parks and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Remote & high altitude operations.