Evergreen International Aviation, the company that built the 20,000-gallon air tanker, or “Supertanker” as they call it, has released a statement that attempts to answer some of the many questions they have received asking why the U.S. Forest Service refuses to use the 747 air tanker, which carries about 10 times more than a P2V. The company says they have never received an explanation from the USFS, but speculates that contracting requirements favoring small businesses may be the reason.
The USFS only offered the two companies with Very Large Air Tankers call when needed contracts, not exclusive use contracts. Without any guaranteed income, Evergreen turned the offer down, while 10 Tanker Air Carrier is struggling to remain in business after accepting a CWN contract for one of their two DC-10 air tankers, which is used only rarely by the USFS.
Below is the text of Evergreen’s statement:
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Date: 6/29/12
Evergreen International Aviation Statement Concerning the Supertanker
We felt compelled to release this statement due to the overwhelming amount of calls we have received concerning the availability of the Evergreen Supertanker. We at Evergreen are saddened by the fire devastation now taking place in many Western US states. For over 60 years, we have supported the US Forest Service in its important mission to battle and control fires, and it is our desire to continue this rich history of service. While our helicopters continue to work fires for the State of Alaska under State contracts, unfortunately, our Boeing 747 Supertanker Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) aircraft awaits activation with the US Forest Service.
We have never been told why we have not been activated by the US Forest Service, so we can only speculate as to why we face this outcome:
1. We were offered a Call-When-Needed (CWN) contract a few years ago by the US ForestService (proving our technical viability), but we were never called into action resulting in a multi-million dollar loss to our company as we were required to maintain and have flight crew available should we be called. The only contact that will sustain a VLAT program is an Exclusive-Use contract, which provides an income stream to sustain the program even if the asset is not utilized. We invested over $50M to develop this asset in the firm belief that we could better control fires as we proved in Israel and Mexico under CWN contracts that we could afford to offer at the time.
2. There have been recent changes to the US Forest Service procurement policies. Today,only small businesses are eligible for contract awards concerning airtanker assets; Evergreen is not a small business and, therefore, is excluded from consideration for any award.
3. The US Forest Service’s specification for Next Generation Air Tanker aircraft limits tanksize to 5,000 gallons. The Supertanker’s tanks hold about 20,000 gallons, which is considered outside the USFS specification. The USFS just awarded contracts to four small businesses with aircraft equipped with these smaller tanks, and excluded the Evergreen Supertanker. Since World War II, tank capacities have been in the 3,000 to 5,000 gallon range, yet continue to face the growing threat from mega fires today. We believe the Supertanker represents an overwhelming response to this growing threat.
Please contact your state representatives in Washington DC to demand an examination of their current procurement policies concerning VLAT aircraft. The US Forest Service says it best: “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
Evergreen International Aviation, Inc., Tel: 503.472.9361
(end of statement)
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Thanks go out to Hsaive
