AHSAFA questions plans for Colorado state fleet
The American Helicopter Services And Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA) has issued a statement questioning a proposal by the Senate of the US state of Colorado to establish a state-owned and operated aerial fire-fighting fleet. Tom Eversole, AHSAFA executive director, commented: “A privately operated fleet of fixed-wing air tankers and helicopters is a far more cost-effective option than a publicly funded state agency.”
The American Helicopter Services And Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA) has issued a statement questioning a proposal by the Senate of the US state of Colorado to establish a state-owned and operated aerial fire-fighting fleet.
Tom Eversole, AHSAFA executive director, commented: “A privately operated fleet of fixed-wing air tankers and helicopters is a far more cost-effective option than a publicly funded state agency, which would incur huge start-up costs, and even larger, ongoing funding commitments to support the aircraft and staffing infrastructure required to sustain an effective aerial fire fighting operation.” He added: “That infrastructure already exists in the private sector, which has consistently demonstrated it can provide aerial fire fighting services at less cost, and with greater efficiency than government agencies, which should be supporting – not competing with – private industry.”
Dan Snyder, chief operating officer of Neptune Aviation Services in Missoula, Montana, asserted that aerial fire fighting is a complex, ‘labor, facilities and equipment-intensive’ business that would be a ‘questionable investment’ as a government operation. He explained: “You are not only talking about the aircraft, but the storage and maintenance hangars, tooling, ground support vehicles; as well as salaries and benefits for pilots, dispatchers, mechanics, and fuel truck drivers. There are also training costs involved.” He added that for large air tankers, there is no generic, one-size-fits-all fire retardant tanking and delivery system – a modification that could take years to design and certify, he said.
Meanwhile Todd Petersen, vice-president of marketing for Columbia Helicopters in Portland, Oregon, highlighted that Colorado opts to acquire surplus military aircraft, there will be the additional expense of refurbishing the planes and modifying them specifically for aerial fire fighting, adding: “They would have to develop and certify internal tanks and the delivery system, or modifying the aircraft to work with external buckets.” In contrast, asserted Petersen, when using private operators, the state would have the advantage of ‘utilising highly trained professional crews from the outset’.
Robin Rogers , vice-president of Rogers Helicopters in Fresno, California, pointed out that a government owned and operated aerial fire fighting enterprise would need to offer year-round employment to its staff, whereas private operators can be contracted in for only the periods when needed.
Kristin Edwards, vice-president of sales at aircraft manufacturer Air Tractor, Inc., voiced support for the use of exclusive use contracts between states and private operators: “By working with the private sector, the state gets a reliable aerial fire fighting asset that it can control. If states increased the number of contracts to private enterprise for aerial fire fighting, it would provide an incentive for operators to put these airplanes on the contracts, assuring an adequate number of assets for the states, to be used for fire protection.”
Columbia Helicopters, Neptune Aviation Services, Rogers Helicopters and Air Tractor, Inc. are members of AHSAFA, a trade association representing the commercial operators of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft engaged in aerial wildland fire fighting.