R -- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT WEATHER OBSERVATION (CWO) SERVICE PROGRAM

Notice Date

March 16, 2001

Contracting Office

Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20591

ZIP Code

20591

Response Due

April 17, 2001

Point of Contact

Darryl C. Anderson, Contracting Officer (202)267-7699; Janet Langweil, Contracting Officer (202) 267-7802

E-Mail Address

Click here to contacting officer via e-mail (Darryl.Anderson@faa.gov; Janet.Langweil@faa.gov)

Description

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT -- MARKET SURVEY/REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) PROGRAM TITLE: FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT WEATHER OBSERVATION (CWO) SERVICES PROGRAM This Market Survey/RFI is for information purposes only. This Market Survey/RFI is neither a Screening Information Request (SIR) nor release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) of any kind, and does not guarantee procurement of the underlying services. Further, the Federal Aviation Administration is neither seeking nor accepting unsolicited proposals. All interested parties are advised that the FAA will not provide reimbursement for any information provided or any other costs incurred that are associated with any response received from industry to this market survey announcement. Therefore any costs associated with market survey submissions will be solely at the interested parties expense. POINTS OF CONTACT: Darryl C. Anderson, Contracting Officer, ASU-310, (202) 267-7699 Janet Langweil, Contracting Officer, ASU-310, (202) 267-7802 Address all written correspondence to the following: Federal Aviation Administration Attn: ASU-310, Darryl Anderson or Janet Langweil 800 Independence Ave., S.W., Room 406 Washington, D.C. 20591 PURPOSE OF ANNOUNCEMENT In accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration's Acquisition Management System (FAAAMS), Section 3.2.1.3.12, industry is hereby informed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a requirement valued at over $100,000. Background: The FAA is responsible for aviation weather observation services at designated locations, primarily airports, throughout the United States including remote sites in Alaska and Puerto Rico. Since March 1995, the FAA has satisfied this responsibility through the use of the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS), or the Aviation Weather Observing System (AWOS), FAA employees and contract weather observer personnel. Presently, the Contract Weather Observation (CWO) program utilizes 48 contractors, predominantly small and very small businesses, which provide weather observation services at 137 contract sites in Regional FAA-owned or FAA-leased locations. Although the program has proven it can save the government money without compromising the accuracy and timeliness of the weather observation requirements, the FAA seeks to consolidate the program to achieve overall efficiency by establishing a uniform operational program at the Headquarters level. The following summary represents the CWO service locations grouped into five (5) areas. -- Area 1 contains approximately 25 sites within the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. -- Area 2 contains approximately 51 sites within the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. -- Area 3 contains approximately 41 sites within the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. -- Area 4 contains approximately 50 sites within the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, and Hawaii. -- Area 5 contains approximately 21 sites within the state of Alaska. Objective: The objective of this Market Survey/RFI is to solicit feedback from sources capable of performing aviation weather observation services. It is the FAA's intent to inform industry of a planned competitive contract(s) (estimated at over $100 million dollars) that will provide for aviation weather observer personnel to augment the ASOS and AWOS at selected airports throughout the United States, including remote sites in Alaska and Puerto Rico. The small business community primarily provides the CWO Program its current weather observation services. The FAA is now seeking to identify potential small businesses that have the experience and qualifications necessary to perform the services required. No solicitation package is currently available. However, the applicable North American Industry Classification System Code for this requirement is 541990. This future contracting opportunity will be set-aside for competition among small businesses unless the FAA determines that no adequate competition or capable small business sources exists. The FAA encourages subcontracting and teaming arrangements by all participants. The FAA seeks to identify small businesses and small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals that possess the following knowledge and experience: 1. Knowledge of FAA and National Weather Service (NWS) Orders, directives and policy relating to CWO services. 2. Knowledge, familiarity or experience with ASOS or AWOS. 3. Knowledge and understanding of the National Airspace System (NAS). 4. Previous experience providing or managing aviation weather observation service at multiple locations. 5. Previous experience, knowledge or management capability for a small business to manage other small businesses and/or small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in a contractual arrangement that would include handling payroll and reports for multiple locations or subcontractors. 6. The ability to provide and manage an aviation weather observation-training program. Schedule: The FAA encourages the participation of all interested parties, and request that interested firms provide a letter of interest and a detailed statement of their capabilities that addresses all of the above criteria not later than April 17, 2001 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. In addition, it is requested that the letter of interest contain appropriate points of contact, a completed Business Form (see attached), and indicate whether teaming arrangements for this effort will be used. No extensions to this submission will be granted. The FAA request that any proprietary information shall be marked appropriately so that all responses to this Market Survey/RFI can be properly secured and protected. The FAA will use the submissions solely to identify interested firms and to gain a better insight into the level of expertise that may be required to meet the FAA's needs and to assist in determining whether a competitive small business set-aside is an appropriate procurement method for this effort. In addition, the FAA may use any comments submitted in response to the Market Survey/RFI to develop an acquisition strategy and to establish key milestone dates for the future procurement. The information obtained will not be used to qualify firms for any future opportunities. The FAA does not intend to conduct written or oral discussions regarding the information received as a result of the Market Survey/RFI. The FAA will provide further details regarding this requirement and release a list of interested firms in a future public announcement.

Web Link

Click here to download a copy of the Business Form (http://www.asu.faa.gov/faaco/)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010320/RSOL007.HTM (W-075 SN50G4W6)