Hillcrest Aircraft Company

Hillcrest Aircraft Company, a self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Lewiston, Idaho, operates as a prime contractor supplying rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, pilots, mechanics, and aviation support personnel to federal agencies for wildland fire suppression, aerial surveying, search and rescue, and natural resource management across the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company is a for-profit Subchapter S corporation competing predominantly under total small business set-asides, though many of its largest task orders carry no set-aside designation.

Hillcrest's federal footprint centers on wildfire and land-management aviation. The company holds five prime indefinite delivery contracts with combined ceilings exceeding $175 million: a $60 million Type 3 Helicopter Support Services IDIQ (National Interagency Fire Center, 2023–2032), a $50 million Helicopter Support Services - Type 2 IDIQ (NIFC, through 2033), a $49.5 million On-Call Type III Helicopter Flight Services IDIQ (Department of the Interior, 2022–2027), a $12 million Type II helicopter services IDIQ (Office of Policy Management and Budget, 2025–2030), and a $4.6 million EU Type III helicopter services IDIQ (Office of Policy Management and Budget, 2023–2028). Recent delivery orders exemplify the work: a $1.83 million Type 3 helicopter support contract for John Day, Oregon (NIFC, February 2025), a $1.8 million Type II services order for Burns, Oregon wildfire suppression (Department of Interior Idaho Region, April 2025), a $1.15 million BLM Vale, Oregon Type III helicopter order (June 2025), and a $66,150 USGS critical mineral survey support delivery order (September 2025).

Customer concentration is extreme. The Department of Agriculture's National Interagency Fire Center dominates the portfolio: 108 awards with $62.76 billion combined potential value represent 71% of award count and virtually all of the portfolio's dollar exposure. The next-largest customer by potential value, the Department of Interior Interior Business Center, holds 12 awards worth $67.9 million. The Department of Interior Office of Policy Management and Budget (5 awards, $58.9 million) and the Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region (34 awards, $35 million) round out the top-value tier. The NAICS profile reflects specialization: 145 awards under Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation and 102 under Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation dominate the portfolio.

Across five of the top six parent vehicles, Hillcrest places task orders: Basic Ordering Agreement 12024B20G5106 (37 task orders, $2.6 million combined value), Type 3 Helicopter Support Services 2023–2032 (20 task orders, $8.9 million), DOI On-Call Small Helicopter Flight Service IDIQ (15 task orders, $160 thousand), and Helicopter Support Services - Type 2 (14 task orders, $2.5 million). The company operates as a 100% prime contractor with no subcontractor engagement; across SCI-reportable prime contracts, zero percent of hours derive from named subs.

Recent activity has contracted year over year. Awards totaled 21 in 2022, peaked at 40 in 2023, fell to 25 in 2024, and dropped to 16 in 2025; the 2026 total stands at 10 awards as of early June. Twenty-two awards with combined potential value of $3.2 million face ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure.

SCI-reported invoiced revenue across service contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $13.3 million over FY2022–FY2024 ($3.9 million in FY2022, $5.7 million in FY2023, $3.7 million in FY2024), delivered across 5.5 to 7.9 FTEs. On federal services contracts captured in SCI, median government-paid rates ran around $308.90 per hour, with senior labor pricing through $463.89 per hour and entry-level work at $242.41 per hour. The company self-performed all SCI-reportable work; no subcontractors appear in the service contract inventory data. Hillcrest's federal exposure is narrowly focused on helicopter and aircraft services to interior and forestry agencies, with limited diversification and no visible prime work outside wildfire and land-management portfolios.

Helicopter forestry support, fire suppression, construction, power line patrol, seismic, charter.