Heliqwest International Inc.

Heliqwest International Inc., a Broomfield, Colorado–based helicopter services operator, provides fire suppression, aerial reconnaissance, personnel and cargo transport, and emergency response aviation to federal land management and wildland fire agencies exclusively as a prime contractor, with no subcontractor engagement or set-aside participation across its 171 federal awards totaling $566.4 million in combined potential value.

The vendor's customer footprint is heavily concentrated in wildland fire and natural resource operations. The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center dominates both volume and dollars—78 awards (46% of total) carrying $381.8 million in combined potential value. Secondary customers include the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region (17 awards, $29.1 million), the National Park Service Intermountain Region (22 awards, $23 million), the National Park Service Pacific West Region (12 awards, $16.3 million), and the Interior Business Center (6 awards, $62.3 million, anchored by a single $40 million award). These top five customers account for 79% of award count and 95% of combined potential value. Heliqwest competes full-and-open on every award; no set-asides appear in the prime portfolio except for two Total Small Business designations among its legacy IDIQs. The vendor's NAICS footprint is entirely aviation-centric: 92 awards under Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation, 77 awards under Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation, and two under Other Nonscheduled Air Transportation.

Heliqwest holds seven active indefinite delivery contracts anchoring its delivery-order portfolio. The Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 IDIQ ($50 million ceiling, awarded January 2025, running through December 2034) is the largest and most recent, issuing 10 task orders for $15.2 million in combined potential value. The Helicopter Support Services – Type 2 ($50 million ceiling, awarded January 2024, through December 2033) has generated 8 task orders valued at $13.9 million. The Type 3 Helicopter Support Services 2023-2032 ($30 million ceiling, April 2023 award) carries a $4.1 million combined potential value across multiple task orders. The EU Helicopter Flight Service Type II Yosemite contract (single-award $9.98 million, National Park Service Pacific West Region, March 2022 award, runs through February 2027) has issued 14 delivery orders since award. Additional legacy contracts include an On-Call Type III Helicopter Flight Services IDIQ ($49.5 million, Interior Business Center, Total Small Business set-aside, May 2022 award, runs through April 2027) and several older single-award vehicles expiring through 2025. The Type 1 and Type 2 IDIQs structure work as firm fixed-price delivery orders with task order ceilings ranging from under $100,000 to over $6.6 million, with ultimate completion dates extending to 2028–2029.

Activity has grown modestly overall—30 awards in 2022 declining to 9 in 2023, then recovering to 10 in 2024, 10 in 2025, and 17 in 2026. Only five awards (combined potential value $7 million) face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, creating minimal near-term recompete exposure. Service Contract Inventory reporting shows SCI-captured invoicing of $11.5 million in FY2022, $12 million in FY2023, $12.6 million in FY2024, and $6.2 million in FY2025 (partial-year data). Workforce scale per SCI peaked at 36.7 FTEs in FY2024, dropping to 16.6 FTEs in FY2025. Heliqwest self-performs all work with zero subcontractor hours reported across SCI prime contracts; government-paid rates on those contracts run a median of $253.41 per hour, with rates spanning $107.98 at the 10th percentile to $378.34 at the 90th percentile. The vendor registered with SAM.gov in 2002 and holds no minority, women-owned, or other SBA designations in the source material.

Helicopter Charter FAA Part 135, 133, 137