Constant Aviation Begins Work on First Challenger 601 Awarded from FAA Contract

Constant Aviation, a full-service aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company with a nationwide network, announces it has begun work at its Sanford, FL, facility on the first of four Challenger 601/604 strip-and-paint events from a contract awarded in late May by the FAA.

The company won back-to-back government contracts by the FAA (Contract 6973GH-18-C-00053 for Bombardier Challenger 601 & 604 Strip & Paint and Contract 6973GH-18-R-00099 Installation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast Out on Bombardier Challenger CL 604 Aircraft) through a joint initiative between Constant Aviation and its affiliate Nextant Aerospace. The initiative brings together the skills and expertise to expand into a new line of business: government contracting.

“Unlike the business and private jet industry, the government contract sector has a much longer and more complicated business development and request for proposals (RFP) regimen. It requires a deep understanding of proposal specifications, the ability to craft detailed proposal responses, and the experience to navigate the protocol and qualifications for the competitive government bidding process,” says Stephen Maiden, Constant Aviation president and CEO. “As such, the efforts of our Government Programs Department, led by retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert Leonard, are designed to tailor solutions that are best-in-class, competitively priced and meet technically acceptable criteria to comply with the requirements of the contracts.”

This is not the first time Constant Aviation has successfully showcased its capabilities in government contract issued work. Previously, the company was a first-tier subcontractor to provide aircraft strip and paint service in support of the USAF’s Bombardier BD-700 Global Express E-11A aircraft.

The newly issued contracts position Constant Aviation as a prime contractor. Contract 6973GH-18-C-00053 entails the full strip and paint service, with a provision for over-and-above repairs as needed, to be accomplished on four of the FAA’s fleet aircraft: three Bombardier Challenger 601s and one Bombardier Challenger 604. Contract 6973GH-18-R-00099 will be upgrading the Challenger 604 with the latest version of Rockwell Collins’ ADS-B Out system, Pro Line 21.

These contracts are a testament to Constant Aviation’s well-formulated strategy of increasing market share within the U.S. Government aviation sector. “We have momentum, and our recent string of wins with the USAF, USN and FAA are proof that we offer unmatched value, experience and quality in a very competitive market,” says Robert Leonard, Nextant Aerospace director of Government Services.

The two contracts have been months in the making, with the first request for information (RFI) documents submitted in 2017. The additional aircraft are scheduled to arrive in August and October with an anticipated 4-week completion schedule for each.