contract delays | The Contracting Education Academy

June 12, 2013 By AMK

Company drops its protest of Forest Service airtanker awards

Neptune Aviation Services Inc. dropped its bid protest of the award of four next generation firefighting airtanker contracts last Friday, but the aircraft may not be ready for use until the tail-end of the 2013 fire season.

Thomas Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, said “this will help modernize our fleet in the quickest manner possible as we face the prospect of a challenging wildfire season.”

Jennifer Jones, a Forest Service spokeswoman at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said it could take companies awarded the airtanker contracts between 60 to 90 days to get ready to fly wildfire suppression missions. This includes outfitting aircraft with tanks that carry water or chemical retardant, approval of a field trial by an Interagency Tanker Board and FAA certification.

“Since the contracts were awarded in early June, we would expect all of the aircraft to be flying by August-September, although it could be sooner if all of the requirements are met before then,” Jones said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2013/06/company-drops-its-protest-forest-service-airtanker-awards/64691/?oref=nextgov_today_nl

June 12, 2013 By AMK

Four key firefighting airtankers grounded due to bid protests

The Forest Service can deploy only three out of seven new tankers to replace Korean War vintage aircraft as the summer fire season heats up, due to a contract protest.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore, told a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday that he wants to cut through the legal process to get the entire fleet in the air as soon as possible. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., joined him in pushing for a quick resolution.

Last month Udall urged the Forest Service to override the protest. “Lives and homes are at stake, and I refuse to stand idly by as red tape suffocates any chance of the U.S. Forest Service finally acquiring these much-needed air tankers,” he said. Udall added that residents of fire-prone areas should not be held hostage to “contractors’ squabbles.”

The Forest Service on May 6 awarded seven companies five-year contracts valued at a total of $159.4 million to supply it with Next Generation Airtankers. Neptune Aviation Services Inc. of Missoula, Mont., on May 16 filed a Government Accountability Office protest of the airtanker contract award, with a decision not due until Aug. 26, the tail-end of the fire season.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2013/06/four-key-firefighting-airtankers-grounded-due-bid-protests/64232/?oref=nextgov_today_nl

April 30, 2013 By AMK

Lockheed Martin fears $825 million hit from sequestration

Government contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. announced Tuesday (Apr. 23, 2013) that across-the-board budget cuts from sequestration could potentially cut its 2013 sales forecast by $825 million.

The company is the first large contractor to outline the impact of sequestration on its business. In January, Lockheed Martin, like other major contractors, published its 2013 sales guidance with the assumption that sequestration would not occur. A statement published in March said that the company was waiting for further guidance from its “government customers” before making specific business decisions.

Lockheed Martin said in its earning report Tuesday that the primary costs from sequestration-related budget cuts would result from rescheduling and “terminating activity” with its supplier base, severance payments made to employees, cost of closing facilities, and possible impairment costs. The company’s “high level” estimate of sequestration impact also assumes many of the federal reductions will be “achieved through delaying and deferring new program starts,” rather than modifying existing programs with “contractually obligated schedule and delivery requirements.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2013/04/lockheed-martin-fears-825-million-hit-sequestration/62719/?oref=govexec_today_nl

April 5, 2013 By AMK

Federal IT funds circle the drain due to poor procurement policies

It may seem like a simple thing to fix — if the U.S. government wants more vendors to compete for contracts, just ask more companies to take part. However, those looking to reform the procurement process are running into snags that favor the status quo, and a new survey shows just how much money is wasted. A greater emphasis on open standards and boosting the role of CIOs are two possible solutions now being studied.

Federal agencies routinely pass up opportunities to improve information technology performance, and save money at the same time, by failing to seek vendor competition in the procurement process, according to a recent survey.

Federal IT professionals revealed that their agencies could save as much as $15.8 billion per year — about 20 percent of annual IT spending — by being more aggressive in utilizing multiple vendors in a more competitive environment for infrastructure projects.

The survey of 208 federal specialists was conducted in January by MeriTalk, an online community of public and private sector IT professionals.

Reporting on the survey in early March, MeriTalk said that 95 percent of respondents believe there are benefits to using more than one vendor in an area of their infrastructure, and 44 percent believe that adding a vendor drives down acquisition costs. However, five percent of agencies reported that their entire IT infrastructure uses just one vendor, and another 23 percent use just two or three.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/77636.html.

January 18, 2013 By AMK

Panetta orders civilian hiring freeze, contract delays

The Pentagon will begin to take “prudent measures” in the coming weeks to prepare for a possible perfect storm of budget cuts, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said during a press briefing Thursday.

Those precautions include a civilian hiring freeze, delaying some contract awards and trimming non-essential facilities maintenance, he said. In addition, Defense Department components must start more detailed planning for the across-the-board budget cuts that are now scheduled to hit March 1 if Congress does not reach a deal on spending reductions.

The more specific sequestration strategies should include plans to implement unpaid furloughs of civilian workers, Panetta added. “I want to be clear: It’s precautionary,” he said. “But I have an obligation to – to let Congress know that we may have to do that, and I very much hope that we will not have to furlough anyone.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/defense/2013/01/panetta-orders-civilian-hiring-freeze-contract-delays-amid-budget-uncertainty/60607/?oref=national_defense_nl

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