Flight Suits

Flight Suits, doing business as Gibson & Barnes, is a Subchapter S Corporation manufacturer of specialized aviation apparel, safety gear, and aerospace components headquartered in El Cajon, California, operating as a prime contractor (99% of awards) on predominantly full-and-open federal procurements with no set-aside designations. The vendor manufactures flight suits, flight helmets, environmental control vests, liquid cooling garments, cable assemblies, and protective apparel for defense, aerospace, and civilian federal agencies across 71 distinct customer organizations.

The company's customer base reflects heavy concentration in defense logistics and military aviation. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation leads by award count with 18 awards valued at $1.4 million combined, with delivery orders for specialized cable assemblies issued against two single-award indefinite delivery contracts (one $250,000 IDC running through July 2029; the other expiring July 2025). The Department of the Air Force Air Combat Command places 18 awards ($459 thousand combined), followed by the Department of the Army (15 awards), the Department of Homeland Security US Coast Guard (14 awards), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (10 awards). By dollar value, the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection anchors 55% of combined potential value across the top five customers with $3.6 million on six awards, followed by the Army Materiel Command Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command ($1.4 million, 9 awards), DLA Aviation ($1.4 million), NASA Johnson Space Center ($1.3 million on 4 awards), and the Department of Interior Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ($601 thousand on 5 awards). The vendor holds two active IDCs with DLA Aviation ($250,000 each, 8 and 7 task orders respectively) and one with NASA Johnson Space Center ($700,000 for extravehicular mobility unit liquid cooling and ventilation garment sub-assemblies).

Representative prime work includes a $1.56 million sole-source firm fixed-price definitive contract from DLA for environmental control vests supporting the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (September 2024 through October 2025); a $563,640 sole-source definitive contract from the Army Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems for 626 environmental control vests (completed December 2023); a $511,572 purchase order from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement for helicopter flight helmets (completed September 2023); a $38,206 total small-business purchase order from NOAA for 43 blue flight suits and 34 Nomex jackets (awarded March 2026); and multiple $46,760 cable assembly delivery orders from DLA Aviation. Recent awards include a July 2026 $55,545 sole-source purchase order from the Bureau of Land Management New Mexico for HGU-56 flight helmets, and a $41,118 delivery order from DLA Aviation for cable assemblies (July 2025). The vendor subcontracts to Atlantic Diving Supply, delivering environmental control vests and maxillofacial shields under Atlantic Diving's prime contracts (March 2024 and December 2023).

Award volume has remained flat to declining, with five awards in 2022, six in 2023, seven in 2024, five in 2025, and two in 2026 through mid-July. Combined potential value across 274 total awards (99% prime, 1% sub) stands at $14.9 million, with $13.9 million obligated. Only two awards face completion within the next twenty-four months (combined potential value $94 thousand), posing minimal near-term recompete exposure. NAICS concentration centers on apparel accessories and manufacturing (72 of 274 awards across top two codes) and aircraft parts manufacturing (18 awards), while PSC concentration is dominant in Specialized Flight Clothing and Accessories (87 awards) and Clothing Special Purpose (63 awards).

AVIATOR SAFETY APPAREL