Mountain West Helicopters, LLC

Mountain West Helicopters, LLC, a self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Saratoga Springs, Utah, operates as a prime contractor providing Type I, II, and III helicopter support services for wildland fire suppression, aerial firefighting, prescribed burns, and natural resource management missions to federal land management agencies exclusively — with no subcontractor activity. The company holds a diversified portfolio of 144 prime awards across four master IDIQs and multiple basic ordering agreements, generating $382.9 million in combined potential value and competing predominantly in full-and-open federal procurement (no set-aside designation on most task orders, though two parent vehicles carry small business set-aside designations).

Mountain West Helicopters' customer base concentrates heavily on Department of Agriculture Forest Service programs. The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) anchors 73 awards (combined potential value $219.4 million), accounting for 51 percent of the vendor's total potential value and 70 percent of award count across the top five customer agencies. The Department of the Interior Interior Business Center holds two large IDIQs totaling $49.5 million in ceiling value (On-Call Type III Helicopter Flight Services 2022-2027, a total small business set-aside running through April 2027, and a Type 3 Helicopter Support Services IDIQ extending through December 2032). The Department of Interior Office of Policy Management and Budget carries one $40 million contract vehicle. A smaller set of Interior regional offices and Forest Service regional programs diversify the customer exposure: Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region (9 awards, $10.7 million), Department of Agriculture Forest Service R3-Southwestern Region (5 awards, $11.2 million), and Department of Interior National Park Service Intermountain Region (8 awards, $643 thousand) round out the active agency set.

The vendor's work flows through five primary parent vehicles. The largest is a basic ordering agreement (BOA 12024B20G5044) under which 38 task orders carry $10.1 million combined potential value — this appears to be the NIFC's primary fire suppression procurement pathway. Two other high-activity BOAs (12024B19G5403 and AG024BB155039) support 16 and 8 task orders respectively with $1.5 million and $1.6 million combined potential value. The Type 3 Helicopter Support Services 2023-2032 IDIQ issued by NIFC carries $10 million ceiling and has generated 5 task orders totaling $367 thousand. Representative task orders include a $6.55 million delivery order awarded March 25, 2025 under the Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 IDIQ for fire suppression services in Bishop, California (completion December 31, 2029, total small business set-aside), a $6.08 million delivery order awarded May 5, 2025 for Casitas, California fire operations (same IDIQ, completion December 2029), a $128.97 thousand delivery order awarded March 31, 2026 under the On-Call Type III IDIQ for wild horse and burro aerial census with BLM Utah Region (completion May 30, 2026), and a $81.55 thousand May 2026 delivery order with National Park Service for Taggart Trail construction flights in Jackson, Wyoming under the Helicopter Support Services Type 2 IDIQ.

Mountain West Helicopters holds four master IDIQs as prime contractor: the Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 IDIQ ($50 million ceiling awarded January 1, 2025 by NIFC), the Type 2 Helicopter Support Services IDIQ ($50 million ceiling awarded January 1, 2024 by NIFC, base period through December 31, 2033), the Type 3 Helicopter Support Services 2023-2032 IDIQ ($10 million ceiling awarded April 12, 2023 by NIFC, extending through December 31, 2032), and the On-Call Type III Helicopter Flight Services 2022-2027 IDIQ ($49.5 million ceiling awarded May 1, 2022 by Department of Interior Interior Business Center under total small business set-aside, running through April 30, 2027). All are multiple-award contracts with one-year base periods and nine one-year option periods.

Activity has trended upward from 2022 to 2024, rising from 15 awards in 2022 to 24 in 2024, then declining sharply to 4 awards in 2025 and 7 awards through May 2026 (the recent year-to-date slice likely reflects the source snapshot timing rather than a recompete cliff). Only 7 awards with combined potential value of $487 thousand face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating limited near-term recompete exposure. The vendor's work spans 19 distinct federal agencies, though concentration in NIFC and Interior programs is pronounced — the top five customer organizations account for 70 percent of award count and 90 percent of combined potential value.

Helicopter operations, specialized in wildland fire suppression, Burned Aera Emergency Response BAER, aerial straw mulch, aerial seeding, helicopter logging, helicopter construction. external loads,