Helistream Inc.

Helistream Inc., a woman-owned small business based in Costa Mesa, California, operates as a prime contractor delivering helicopter support services—including flight training, wildland fire suppression, law enforcement aerial operations, and exclusive-use aircraft and crew support—to federal civilian agencies under multiple indefinite delivery contracts and task orders. The vendor competes exclusively in full-and-open procurement without set-aside designations, though its woman-owned small business status qualifies it for total small business set-asides and HUBZone consideration where agencies elect to use them.

Customer concentration is heavily skewed to two federal agencies. The top five funding agencies account for 85% of recent awards by count and 99% by potential value, led by the Department of Agriculture's National Interagency Fire Center (14 awards, $172.6 million combined potential value) and the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (16 awards, $138.6 million combined potential value). DHS Chief Procurement Officer ranks third (7 awards, $55.4 million). The rankings do not diverge—NIFC and CBP dominate both volume and dollars—reflecting Helistream's specialization in federal helicopter operations for fire management and border enforcement missions.

Helistream holds positions on five primary indefinite delivery contracts. The largest vehicles by task-order count are IDC HSBP1014D00015 (6 task orders, $18.8 million combined potential value), IDC 70B02C21D00000002 administered by CBP (5 task orders, $27.4 million), IDC HSBP1010D00003 (5 task orders, $38.3 million), and IDC HSBP1005D01006 (4 task orders, $32.5 million). Recent concrete awards include a $6.3 million firm fixed-price delivery order from NIFC on January 1, 2024, for Type II exclusive-use helicopter support in Santa Ynez and Santa Maria, California, running through December 31, 2028; a $3.15 million delivery order from CBP on February 1, 2025, for light enforcement helicopter training services in Costa Mesa through July 31, 2026; and a $2.64 million delivery order from NIFC on May 31, 2024, for Type 3 helicopter support services in Santa Cruz, California, extending through December 31, 2028. The vendor also holds newly awarded IDCs: a $50 million Type 1 Helicopter Support Services contract with NIFC effective January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2034, and an earlier $50 million Type 2 contract (January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2033).

Activity has flattened in recent years. Awards per year tracked at four (2022), two (2023), six (2024), two (2025), and one (2026 to date), with only one award scheduled for ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months—a $3.2 million delivery order carrying minimal recompete exposure over the window. The combined potential value across all fifty-two prime awards stands at $369.1 million, with $107.7 million obligated as of the source date (29% of combined potential value), indicating substantial unobligated ceiling remaining on existing IDCs.

Helistream operates solely as a prime contractor (100% of awards) with no subcontractor awards in the source data. SCI-reported invoicing across federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $9.5 million from FY2022 to FY2024 (FY2022: $3.8 million; FY2023: $3.7 million; FY2024: $2 million), with corresponding FTE delivery of 2.1, 1.9, and 1.1 FTEs respectively. The SCI dataset is a partial view capturing only service contracts above the reporting floor; it does not reflect Helistream's full federal goods and services revenue. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reported prime contracts averaged around $869 per hour (median), ranging from approximately $865 to $927 per hour across the rate distribution. Sub-engagement across prime contracts was zero—the vendor builds its own delivery teams rather than leaning on subcontractors.

Helistream's capability portfolio concentrates on flight training (32 awards in the award population) and nonscheduled chartered air transportation for fire suppression and law enforcement (14 and 3 awards respectively), with primary NAICS alignment to Flight Training (481212) and secondary concentration in forestry fire suppression and presuppression support (PSC codes reflecting natural resource conservation missions). The vendor's footprint spans California base operations (Costa Mesa, Santa Ynez, Pollock Pines, Santa Cruz) with nationwide performance scope across federal lands where wildland fire and border-enforcement missions occur.

helicopter services to include flight training, aerial photography, charters, external load, fire fighting, utility, powerline, high voltage transmission line patrol & maintenance, film production, aerial survey and wire pulling, nvg, aerial crane