The U.S. Forest Service has reopened bids on a contract to
operate the next generation of firefighting planes after two companies
protested the initial award.
That means Missoula-based Neptune
Aviation and three other air tanker operators must refile their
proposals for jet-powered aircraft to replace Korean War-era P2V
tankers.
The bulk of the $261 million, five-year contract to
modernize the private fleet of air tankers that drop flame retardant
slurry on forest fires was originally awarded to Missoula-based Neptune
Aviation.
The Forest Service rejected bids from jumbo-jet companies and for water-scooper planes that don't use retardant.
Canada-based
Coulson Aviation and 10 Tanker of Victorville, Calif., challenged the
Forest Service's contracting process in August. The government had until
early October to respond.
Neptune president Dan Snyder said the
company received notice from the Forest Service contractor on Friday the
contract was being reposted.
"We haven't digested what they want
us to do different. There are 31 different points as amendments, but we
don't know what they want us to change," he said.
Forest Service officials did not immediately return a call Tuesday morning.
Safety
concerns reduced the available planes contracted by the Forest Service
from 44 in 2002 to 10 this year. Two of the older P2-Vs tankers crashed
in early June, one of the crashes killing two pilots.
Neptune
wants to gradually replace the P2Vs with newer BAe-146 jets under the
new contract. The company has put two of the jets in service this year
on interim contracts.
The three other companies in the protested
contract include Nevada-based Minden Aviation, which won permission to
add two of the new jets in 2012 and 2013.
Aero Air LLC of
Hillsboro, Ore., was approved to add two McDonnell-Douglas MD-87s and
Aero-Flite Inc. of Kingman, Ariz., was to add an RJ85, which is a
slightly larger version of the BAe-146.
The Missoulian, citing Forest Service figures, reported ( http://bit.ly/Tolbuf)
that Neptune had the most expensive five-year bid. Snyder told the
newspaper Neptune's jets would be maintained at airliner standards, the
most expensive level.
The California company 10 Tanker has two
DC-10 jets converted to drop retardant, while Coulston Aviation flies
Canadian-built water-scooper planes and has proposed converting surplus
military C-130 transport planes into retardant bombers.
Under the
new guidelines, the Forest Service wanted planes that could deliver at
least 3,000 gallons of retardant. P2Vs can haul just 1,500 gallons,
while BAes carry 3,000.
The DC-10 can carry 11,600 gallons of retardant, but faced questions of affordability and maneuverability.
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Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com
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