Air Force Helicopter Maintenance Services contract at four locations

The Specialized Contracting Division at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., intends to solicit competitive proposals to provide Helicopter Maintenance Services at four locations: three state-side Air Force bases and one location overseas at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

The contractor will be responsible for Helicopter Maintenance Services for Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command and the Pacific Command at the following locations for UH-1N model helicopters: Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., Minot Air Force Base, N.D., F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and Yokota Air Base, Japan.

The Helicopter Maintenance Services consist of maintaining mission capable (in serviceable condition, safely operable, and properly configured to meet mission requirements) UH-1N helicopters to support safe operations, exercises, and Search and Rescue Support, off-station aircraft recovery, Aircrew Flight Equipment,  and weapons system maintenance requirements 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Video: U-2 Programmed Depot Maintenance

The U-2 Dragon Lady goes through Lockheed Martin Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) every 4,800 flight hours or every seven years. PDM involves the complete disassembly, inspection, repair and reassembly of the entire aircraft; ensuring its longevity and ability to fly at today's record-high operational rates. This thorough maintenance allows Lockheed Martin to collect data on airframe integrity, confirming that nearly 80 percent lifespan remains on the aircraft.

The U-2 collects critical targets no other platform can, flying faster, deeper and with greater reliability compared to any high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance aircraft since the SR-71.

ProJet discontinues aircraft maintenance services at Leesburg Airport

ProJet Aviation announced Friday they are discontinuing commercial maintenance and repair operations (MRO) at Leesburg Executive Airport in order to focus on managed aircraft clients. The company plans to accommodate “emergency maintenance” requests for all Leesburg based and transient aircraft.

“This extremely difficult decision was made after almost two years of trying to turn around a shop that had struggled for years under previous ownership,” said Shye Gilad, CEO of Projet Aviation. In June 2012, Landmark Aviation sold all of its fixed base operator assets at Leesburg to ProJet.

“In no way is this a reflection of the hard work and commitment of our MRO team - despite their best efforts, the economics of operating the MRO at a large scale are simply not sustainable in the face of adverse external conditions,” Gilad said.

“We thank you for your business and regret that we will no longer be able to provide scheduled maintenance services,” Gilad said in an announcement to customers.

In 2012, Leesburg had 215 based aircraft and over 70,000 annual operations (takeoffs and landings). The airport is home to three flight schools in addition to a number of aeronautical service companies. Total employment at the airport is nearly 300.

Southwest Airlines adds Airplane Health Management system to predict maintenance issues

On Tuesday, Boeing announced that Southwest Airlines has selected Airplane Health Management (AHM) to enhance operational efficiency in its maintenance and engineering operations.

Southwest Airlines will use AHM to collect and evaluate airplane operations data while the airplane is in flight. This real-time data is used to signal ground operations crews of any potential maintenance issues before the airplane lands, minimizing flight schedule disruptions and maintenance-related delays.

Boeing technical teams will work with Southwest to facilitate initial deployment of the system for its Next-Generation 737s. Southwest is Boeing's 66th customer for AHM.

Southwest Airlines is an all-Boeing carrier and operates the largest 737 fleet of any airline. In 2011, the airline became the launch customer for the 737 MAX.

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Air Force meets with industry to discuss KC-46 maintenance contract

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is hosting a series of Industry Day meetings this month to provide potential prime contractors with greater insight into program requirements and to foster competition in the acquisition of the KC-46 Maintenance Training System. A notice announcing the meeting was released Friday.

The KC-46 is a new widebody multi-role tanker for the Air Force.

The Industry Day meetings will be conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Jan. 27-31.

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Coast Guard to reevaluate C-130 maintenance contract award

On Sept. 5, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest filed by Triad International Maintenance Corp., Aviation Services, Inc. (TIMCO) alleging that the United States Coast Guard unreasonably evaluated its technical proposal for progressive structural inspections on its fleet of C-130 aircraft.

TIMCO Aviation Services, Inc., of Greensboro, N.C., has performed a substantial amount of maintenance repair and overhaul services for the U.S. military, and has performed heavy maintenance services on more than 2,000 C-130 aircraft over the past 30 years.

TIMCO, represented by Centre Law Group, filed a protest of an awarded contract to DRS Technical Services, Inc., of Herndon, Va., which challenged the Coast Guard's evaluation of its past performance, proposed price, technical proposal, and also argued that the agency's evaluation of the protester's and awardee's proposals reflected disparate treatment in favor of the awardee. The GAO sustained the protest due to the agency's unreasonable evaluation of the protestor's past performance and price. Upon review, the GAO also made recommendations that the agency reevaluate the proposals and issue a new decision.

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