SOURCES SOUGHT
V -- Commercial Air Operations (CAO) Travel Management Services - RFI
- Notice Date
- 1/14/2016
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 561510
— Travel Agencies
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, ICE-OAQ-CR, 801 I STREET, NW, Suite 910, Washington, District of Columbia, 20536, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20536
- Solicitation Number
- ICE-OAQ-CR-RFI-CAO
- Point of Contact
- Benjamin T. Shih, Phone: 2027322584
- E-Mail Address
-
benjamin.shih@ice.dhs.gov
(benjamin.shih@ice.dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request for Information REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 1.0Project Title Commercial Air Operations (CAO) Travel Management Services 2.0Description U.S. Immigration and Customs Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in support of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and the ICE Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is seeking information and feedback from interested travel management companies (TMC) for a possible upcoming procurement. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes, it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, ICE is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals or capability statements. Vendors are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be posted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Advance Planning Forecast System (APFS) website. It is the responsibility of potential vendors to monitor the APFS for additional information pertaining to this requirement. 3.0Background ICE Air Operations (IAO), a division of the DHS ICE ERO Removal Division, provides aviation support for the transport of aliens ordered removed from the United States. IAO is comprised of two units: Commercial Air Operations (CAO) and Air Charter Operations (ACO). This RFI is focused upon CAO requirements. CAO coordinates and supports escorted and unescorted commercial domestic transfer and international removal operations conducted by the ICE Field Offices. International removal mission destinations include Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. FY15 costs totaled just over $18M, which included domestic transfers as well as international removal missions. Currently, to initiate the removal process via commercial air carrier, an ICE Field Office Travel Coordinator submits a mission travel request using a web-based portal provided by Omega World Travel (OWT). This process involves manual entry of alien and officer data. The portal e-mails the mission travel request to OWT and CAO. CAO Enforcement and Removal Assistants (ERAs) re-key the travel request data from the e-mail into the ALIEN database. OWT returns the final itinerary to CAO via e-mail in PDF format. ERAs re-key itinerary info into the ALIEN database. The current interface with Concur and OWT requires significant duplication of effort. In order to improve the removal process as well as improve reporting and financial reconciliation capabilities, ICE desires a single integrated Travel Management Company (TMC) to handle all aspects of mission-based removal travel. ICE plans to enable its removal systems to transmit and receive travel data directly with a TMC using the OpenTravel Alliance standard message format. Once implemented, CAO expects to achieve these important business benefits: •Remove reliance on a TMC-provided web-based portal •Reduce re-keying of travel data into various internal databases •Remove dependency on a general ledger financial system •Streamlined ticketing •Cost reimbursable billing •Improved efficiency administering travel activities •Cost savings, both direct travel costs and indirect human resources costs. 4.0Anticipated Vendor Capabilities The Government seeks industry feedback and comment on the anticipated vendor capabilities: •Experience booking and ticketing domestic and complex international air travel •Experience complying with Government travel regulations •Experience booking and reserving hotels and other accommodations •Systems that support communication via the OpenTravel Alliance standard message format •Systems that can integrate the CAO Removal Guidelines travel policies and restrictions into the TMC's rules engine. Examples of policies and restrictions include oRepatriations to Country A may not transit through Country B oCountry C allows only two transits per day 5.0Anticipated Requirements The Government seeks industry feedback and comment on the anticipated requirements: 5.1 Service and Operations oExpert domestic and international travel consultants with the ability to: Provide complex international itineraries to remote destinations within the restrictions of the CAO Removal Guidelines travel policies and restrictions, as well as the Government Per Diem rates Generate Government Travel Orders Book tickets with excellent attention to detail (99.8% accuracy) Guide travelers with industry-specific expertise (e.g., baggage and split ticketing) Advise of baggage and ticket restrictions, travel times, and other relevant trip details oExcellent customer service and response times, effectively and efficiently serving both the urgent and fluid nature of CAO travel oManage ticket changes, including those made directly by airlines oRecord trip options provided by agents to allow financial review and an audit trail oProvide in-house after-hours assistance with agents well trained in CAO travel policies and procedures 5.2 Management oA dedicated Account Manager, who is proactively engaged in problem solving, cost savings proposals, and providing guidance in best practices and industry benchmarks oA dedicated Implementation Manager to ensure implementation process runs smoothly and within required timeline oAbility to accurately track unique Mission IDs throughout the booking lifecycle, including email threads, reconciliation documents, etc. 5.3 Technical oFedRAMP Moderate compliant environment oAbility to communicate with ICE removal systems via the OpenTravel Alliance standard message format oAbility to incorporate the CAO Removal Guidelines travel policies and restrictions into the TMC's rules engine. Examples of policies and restrictions include Repatriations to Country A may not transit through Country B Country C allows only two transits per day oControls to ensure airlines booked meet necessary security and safety requirements oAbility for CAO staff to log in to reporting systems to run and export reports based upon customizable data fields oAbility to send automated notifications, such as trip requests, itineraries, or out-of-policy notices, to CAO staff and ICE Field Office staff. 6Requested Information •An information sheet including TMC contact name, email, phone, etc.; •Brief presentation that includes expertise in travel management services; •Specific feedback and comments on the anticipated capabilities and requirements stated above; •Recommended billing process, e.g., draw-down account, cost-reimbursable CLIN, to remove dependency upon general ledger financial system; •Typical fee structure; and •List of clients with similar size of operations and travel complexity. 7.0 Responses Requested information shall be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word for Office 2010 and/or Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 compatible format are due on January 29, 2016, at 3:00 pm EST. The total response package shall not exceed 25 pages. Responses shall be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer, Benjamin Shih at benjamin.shih@ice.dhs.gov. All submissions shall include in the subject line "CAO Travel Management Services - (Company's Name)". Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Late submissions will not be considered. 8.0 Industry Discussions ICE/OCIO representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks. 9.0 Questions Questions regarding this RFI shall be submitted in writing via e-mail to the Contracting Officer, Benjamin Shih at benjamin.shih@ice.dhs.gov no later than 10:00 am EST, on January 22, 2016. All submissions shall include in the subject line "Questions for CAO Travel Management Services - (Company's Name)". Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after the due date deadline will be answered. 10.0 Summary THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide travel management services. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. ICE has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/INS/ICE-OAQ-CR/ICE-OAQ-CR-RFI-CAO/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations, Removal Division, ICE Air Operations, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Record
- SN03992554-W 20160116/160115083536-a3691c428edb4f2c73387f21d3d0988a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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