ICARUS OPS, LLC

B-415287.2 May 03, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights ICARUS OPS, LLC, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4452-17-R-0041, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) services for Headquarters, Air Mobility Command (AMC) at Scott Air Force Base, IL. ICARUS contends that the RFP is unduly restrictive of competition. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  ICARUS OPS, LLC File:  B-415287.2 Date:  May 3, 2018 John M. Manfredonia, Esq., Manfredonia Law Offices, LLC, for the protester. Barbara S. Kinosky, Esq., Centre Law and Consulting, LLC, for the intervenor. Michael J. Farr, Esq., Alexis J. Bernstein, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Michael P. Grogan, Esq., and Amy B. Pereira, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the terms of the solicitation as unduly restrictive of competition is denied where the agency has demonstrated that the requirement for a repository of civilian airline data is reasonably necessary to meet the agency's needs. DECISION ICARUS OPS, LLC, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4452-17-R-0041, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) services for Headquarters, Air Mobility Command (AMC) at Scott Air Force Base, IL.  ICARUS contends that the RFP is unduly restrictive of competition. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on May 18, 2017, as a small business set-aside, contemplates the award of a fixed-price contract for a 1-year base period and four 1-year option periods.  The solicitation was issued pursuant to the commercial items and simplified acquisition procedures contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) parts 12 and 13 and provides for award using a lowest-priced, technically acceptable source selection process, considering technical acceptability and price as evaluation factors.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 8, RFP Amend. 5 at 1, 6-8; Performance Work Statement (PWS)  at §§ 1.1.3, 4.1.[1]  The LOSA services here anticipate threat and error identification support during aircraft crew and team performance, flight, aerial port, and maintenance operations.  PWS at § 1.1.3.  This process provides an assessment of the safety strengths and weaknesses in normal flight operations of aircraft, aircrew, and ground personnel.  Id.  A LOSA requires observers to ride in an aircraft's jump seat, or otherwise observe operations, during regularly scheduled flights or maintenance operations to collect safety-related data on environmental conditions, operational complexity, and crew performance.  Id. The Air Force initially awarded a contract for these services on September 1, 2017.  On September 16, ICARUS filed a protest with our Office challenging the agency's determination that its proposal was technically unacceptable and ineligible for award.  In response, the Air Force took corrective action by, among other things, amending the solicitation to better describe the required content of technical proposals and the evaluation criteria.  Our Office dismissed the protest as academic on October 6.  ICARUS OPS, LLC, B-415287, Oct. 6, 2017 (unpublished decision).  On January 10, 2018, the Air Force issued amendment 5 to the RFP, which revised the technical requirements and evaluation criteria.  As relevant here, the RFP requires offerors to provide LOSA data collection software that will collect, analyze, store, and allow future search capability of the LOSA data collected.  PWS § 1.2.1.  Amendment 5 added, among other things, a requirement that an offeror's LOSA database have an "existing and substantial repository to allow for comparison of aircrew and aircraft performance to established civil airline industry data."  PWS § 1.2.1.5.  Proposals were to be submitted by January 31.  AR, Tab 12, RFP Amend.