Papillon Airways Inc.

Papillon Airways Inc., doing business as Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, is a small business prime contractor providing exclusive-use and on-call Type III helicopter flight services to federal land management, emergency response, and civilian agencies across the Western United States, operating under NAICS 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation) and competing predominantly under total small business set-aside designations on multiple-award and single-award indefinite delivery contracts.

Papillon Airways is a for-profit corporation headquartered in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, with a child entity structure under parent company Papillon Airways, Inc. The company operates as a wholly self-performing helicopter services provider with no named subcontractors across its federal portfolio, delivering direct helicopter operations rather than subcontracting work. Recent federal award activity totals 398 awards across all sources with a combined potential value of $335.8 million, of which $91.2 million has been obligated. Activity has remained relatively steady over the past five years — 26 awards in 2022, 33 in 2023, 16 in 2024, 23 in 2025, and 19 through September 2026 — though the trend shows a decline from the 2023 peak and moderate pickup in 2025. SCI-reported invoiced revenue for federal services contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $24.4 million across FY2022–FY2025, with FY2022 representing the peak year at $8.7 million across 18.2 FTEs, declining to $4.3 million and 7.5 FTEs by FY2025. On federal services contracts captured in SCI, government-paid hourly rates ran median around $252.62/hr, with the spectrum ranging from $193.05/hr at the 10th percentile through $314.08/hr at the 90th percentile, reflecting mid-tier pricing for specialized helicopter operations.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the National Park Service Intermountain Region (68 awards, $104.3 million combined potential value) and the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center (38 awards, $68.7 million). These two customers represent approximately 40% of awards and 52% of combined potential dollars, with the Department of the Interior Departmental Offices Interior Business Center anchoring an additional $62.1 million across five awards tied to master IDIQ vehicles. The top five customer agencies account for 59% of awards and 80% of combined potential value. Interior bureaus including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, and Fish and Wildlife Service constitute the remainder of active work, with geographic operations spanning Arizona, Nevada, California, Montana, New Mexico, and Utah.

Papillon Airways holds five primary parent vehicles: the $49.5 million On-Call Type III Helicopter Flight Services 2022–2027 IDIQ (total small business set-aside, Department of the Interior, extending through April 2027, with 36 task orders yielding $3.7 million combined potential value); the $50 million Type 3 Helicopter Support Services 2023–2032 IDIQ (multiple award, no set-aside, Department of Agriculture Forest Service National Interagency Fire Center, extending through December 2032, with four task orders executed through mid-2026); the $16.78 million single-award contract with the National Park Service Intermountain Region for exclusive-use helicopter services at Grand Canyon National Park (total small business set-aside, January 2023–January 2027, with approximately $9.81 million in delivery orders executed through mid-2025); a $10 million single-award exclusive-use Type III helicopter contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Whiteriver, Arizona (total small business set-aside, May 2026–May 2031); and a $9 million single-award contract with the National Park Service Pacific West Region for exclusive-use helicopter services at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (total small business set-aside, April 2026–March 2031). Older IDIQs including the DOI On-Call Helicopter Flight Services 2017–2018 ($5.4 million in combined task-order value across 52 orders) remain active through their contract periods, with delivery orders continuing to flow. Papillon operates across both total small business set-aside vehicles and full-and-open competition on the Type 3 Helicopter Support Services IDIQ, reflecting established competitive positioning on premier federal helicopter contracts.

Recent representative contract work includes three delivery orders totaling $1.34 million from the Department of the Interior Western Region's Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education (July–September 2026) for on-call small helicopter services supporting Havasupai School transportation flights and facility management operations in Supai, Arizona, and law enforcement transportation; a $900,362 firm fixed-price delivery order from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region (May 2026) for exclusive-use Type III helicopter support of the 2026 wildland fire season based in Whiteriver, Arizona, under the newly awarded $10 million single-award IDIQ; multiple orders from the National Park Service Pacific West Region for exclusive-use helicopter services at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, including a $1.184 million delivery order (April 2026) and a $207,000 order (April 2026) under the newly awarded $9 million single-award contract; $459,710 and $98,084 delivery orders from the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (July–September 2026) for law enforcement flights and transportation at Supai Village; and a $1.55 million delivery order from the National Park Service Intermountain Region (January 2026) for exclusive-use helicopter services at Grand Canyon National Park under the $16.78 million single-award vehicle. Work across the National Interagency Fire Center Type 3 Helicopter Support Services IDIQ includes a $2.463 million delivery order (May 2024) for exclusive-use helicopter operations in Morgan, Utah, extending through December 2028, with SCI-reported invoicing of $691 thousand in FY2024 and $637 thousand in FY2025. Across all work, Papillon performs no subcontractor engagement; SCI data shows zero percent average sub-hours share on prime contracts, confirming the company's model as a wholly self-performing operator using its own fleet and personnel.

Fourteen awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry a combined potential value of $5.3 million, reflecting moderate recompete exposure concentrated on smaller delivery orders rather than parent IDIQ ceilings. The $16.78 million National Park Service Intermountain Region Grand Canyon contract is scheduled to extend through January 2027, placing recompete pressure in late 2026 and early 2027 for renewal. The company's federal profile reflects a specialized, geographically concentrated helicopter services provider with deep relationships anchored at two major customers (National Park Service Intermountain Region and Forest Service National Interagency Fire Center) and extensive experience executing complex aerial operations in remote terrain across federal land management and emergency response missions in the Western public lands portfolio.

WE FLY SCENIC TOURS OF THE GRAND CANYON BY HELICOPTER - SCHEDULED SERVICE TO (HAVASUPAI-INDIAN RESERVATION) CHARTER - GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, EXECUTIVE TRANSPORT, PHOTOGRAPHY.