SAM #70B04C26Q00000178

CBP award for SITA airline passenger and cargo data transmission services

CBP awarded a sole-source contract for SITA’s airline-data transmission services supporting government screening and manifest systems. - Government buyer: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Enterprise Data Management and Engineering Directorate (EDMED). - Named provider and software owner: SITA Information Networking Computing USA Inc., provider of the SITA carrier network and proprietary Runway software. - Services requested: Secure transmission of Passenger Name Records (PNR), air cargo manifests, advance passenger information, passenger manifests, and related airline data and messages. Services include translating airline data into CBP-required formats and supporting two-way communication between air carriers and DHS. - Supports CBP’s ATS-P, APIS Pre-Departure, ESTA, and Automated Manifest System, as well as TSA Secure Flight. - Sole-source rationale: CBP cites SITA’s established multinational carrier network, proprietary interoperability, and agreements with airline partners. The notice says disruption could interfere with participating carriers’ ability to meet U.S. government data requirements. - Award: Firm-fixed-price contract; recorded award amount is $4,558,800. - Products and quantities: No hardware, product part numbers, or quantities are specified.

Description

This is a NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT under the authority of FAR 13.501. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to solicit and negotiate directly with SITA Information Networking Computing USA Inc. (SITA) for services to electronically transmit airline data to CBP. The CBP Office of Information and Technology (OIT) Enterprise Data Management and Engineering Directorate (EDMED) has a continuing requirement to electronically obtain Passenger Name Records (PNR), air cargo manifests, and other airline-related data and messaging in support of CBP's mission, and statutory and regulatory requirements, to screen people and cargo entering and exiting the United States.

CBP intends to award a contract without considering other awardees pursuant to RFO 16.507-6. A large number of commercial air carriers currently interface with DHS to provide the required information and many of these DHS carrier partners have exclusive commercial agreements with SITA to utilize SITA’s network to provide information to DHS. SITA’s services include an extensive  multi-national carrier industry network and communications solutions which enable both our carrier industry partners and DHS to securely transmit data and support DHS’s anti-terrorism mission as required.

Air carriers have commercial agreements with SITA to securely transmit passenger and cargo information and provide DHS with two-way communication, as required, via SITA’s approved interface and the usage of SITA’s proprietary software (Runway). Failure to continue the current SITA support services would disavow those carriers currently serviced by SITA preventing them  from being able to comply with US government mandates.

This is a firm-fixed price (FFP) Contract for services. A FFP type will provide maximum incentive for the contractor to control costs and perform effectively and impose a minimum administrative burden upon the contracting parties, reducing technical, schedule, and cost risk to the Government. The Government determined the work described in the Statement of Work (SOW) is definitive enough where it can be priced with a reasonable degree of confidence; therefore, FFP was selected as the appropriate contract  type.

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