Homestead Helicopters Inc.

Homestead Helicopters Inc. is a small business based in Missoula, Montana that specializes in providing helicopter services to various federal agencies. As a Type III rotorcraft operator, Homestead Helicopters offers capabilities ranging from aerial firefighting and wildland fire management to natural resource conservation support and emergency response.

The company has secured numerous prime contract awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of the Interior (DOI) to deliver critical aviation services across the Western United States. A major area of focus involves wildland fire suppression, where Homestead Helicopters has been awarded delivery orders and task orders by the USDA Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management program and its National Interagency Fire Center. These awards leverage the company's fleet of Type III helicopters equipped for water bucket work, cargo transport, personnel insertion, aerial reconnaissance, and other firefighting missions. Homestead Helicopters also supports conservation efforts through the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Resources Conservation Service by providing on-call small helicopter services for wildlife monitoring, natural resource surveys, search and rescue operations, and field transport. Task orders have included set-asides for small businesses as the agencies aim to engage qualified vendors across organizational sizes.

Homestead Helicopters Inc. currently holds multiple indefinite delivery contract vehicles enabling the continued provision of rotorcraft services to meet federal aviation requirements. Most notably, the company secured a $20 million multiple-award ID/IQ from the USDA Forest Service in 2023 for Type III helicopter support through 2032, encompassing fire operations as well as administrative transport. Homestead Helicopters also has a $49.5 million small business set-aside ID/IQ with DOI awarded in 2022 to furnish on-call Type III flight services nationwide over five years. Additional IDVs with USDA for exclusive use legacy helicopters and wildland fire aviation assets through 2024 have yielded over $12 million in task orders to date. By establishing these long-term contract vehicles, federal natural resource agencies can rapidly obtain skilled pilots, aircraft, and support personnel from experienced vendors like Homestead Helicopters to execute critical missions across wide geographic areas and during emergency situations.