My name is Nic Lynn and I am the Vice President of Operations for Neptune Aviation.
In this role, I provide leadership and support for our Fixed-Base Operations (FBO), Air Tanker Operations, Maintenance Operations and Air Attack Operations.
Additionally, I am very involved with our government partners at the FAA, USFS, DOI, DFPC and CALFIRE.
These factors are critical in determining the type and number of assets that will be needed to effectively combat a fire.
Information on fire location, size and intensity combined with terrain, fuel types, threatened structures, assets currently on scene and current and forecasted weather conditions, allow the Air Attack Team to provide the Incident Commander with a comprehensive operational picture to support them in creating a plan for how to combat the fire.
The relationships that we have with the USFS and all our Federal and State partners have been built and strengthened over decades of consistent performance.
In 2026, Neptune marks the 33rd year of providing Large Air Tanker (LAT) operations.
This longevity in the industry has been achieved through dedication, innovation, commitment to safety and a strong belief in supporting our customers.
We have been successful at developing and maintaining strong relationships with our customers, who know what they are getting when they call Neptune and that they can count on us to provide excellent service.
Nic Lynn
Neptune Aviation was founded in 1993 with the acquisition of the assets and contracts from Black Hills Aviation.
Since that time, Neptune has continuously supported the USFS with LATs.
Primarily, we have worked with the Forest Service under Exclusive Use (EU) contracts and through some Call When Needed (CWN) contracts.
EU contracts have a defined period of performance, where the aircraft is on duty and stationed throughout the country.
This model works very well, as the aircraft are positioned in the areas of the country when the potential for fire activity is heightened.
This pre-positioning and availability of the aircraft ensures that we are able to respond to any fire as quickly as possible.
Typically, our aircraft can be loaded with retardant and enroute to the fire within 15 minutes of receiving an order to go.
Accessibility is a primary component of creating the next generation of pilots.
We put a lot of energy into introducing young people to aviation.
There are many students in middle school, high school, and college who are not aware of the opportunities in the aviation industry.
Nic Lynn
Providing them with an opportunity to learn about and experience some of the careers that are available is very important to us.
For the last few years, we have partnered with the local high schools to offer a work-study program, where the students can earn high school credit, a wage and exposure to aviation.
Our diverse operations allow us to provide a one-stop shop for learning about aviation, whether someone is interested in being a pilot, a mechanic or a line technician.
This initial effort to generate early awareness leads into accessibility- from on-the-job training for mechanics working to earn their certification to employee discounts for pilot training.
Like others in the industry, we are experiencing the shortages of qualified candidates in aviation, so we are trying to do our part to get that next generation excited about aviation and considering it as a possible career.
Garmin is widely recognized as the leader in general aviation avionics.
Their product line covers so many bases and interfaces with other components so well that it was an obvious choice for us to offer our customers.
With this partnership, our customers have a wide range of choices for upgrading the safety, reliability and capability of their aircraft.
As we continue to grow our retail maintenance operations, expanding our avionics installation and upgrade capabilities was an area in which we wanted to invest.
Response from our customers has been extremely positive and we are booking installs out several months in advance.
We put a lot of energy into maintaining that 99% dispatch availability rate and that requires a coordinated effort across multiple departments within our organization, starting with proactive maintenance.
We know that our aircraft will be deployed all over the country and it is vital that they are ready to respond to a fire anytime they are called.
When the aircraft return to our facility for regular maintenance, we look over all of the systems and ensure that they aren’t only airworthy at the moment in time but will remain so throughout their deployment.
A component may be within tolerance when we conduct maintenance, but if there is a chance it will wear out during deployment, so we address it then, rather than wait until it wears out during the next mission.
It is critical to be proactive to maintain availability and safety.
The catastrophic fires in Southern California in January of 2025 were a wakeup call for many.
Nic Lynn
The country was used to hearing about wildfires in the summer, but experiencing such catastrophic fires in the winter really attracted people’s attention.
The wildfire industry has been discussing “fire-year” vs “fire season” for a long time.
The national attention really focused on the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles drove a significant increase in National and State level legislation.
In 2025, more than 100 pieces of legislation on wildfire preparedness were introduced separately in both the House and Senate.
This is significantly more than in previous years.
The Department of Interior has taken a significant step in creating the United States Wildland Fire Service.
This new agency will unify the DOI’s fire programs, which will increase efficiency.
The aerial firefighting industry continues to collaborate with Federal, State and local partners to increase capacity, drive innovation and support long-term solutions to meet the growing demands.
Nic Lynn
At Neptune, we are responding to these evolving demands by modernizing our fleet.
We are currently transitioning from the BAe 146 to the Airbus A319.
While the BAe 146 remains a highly capable aircraft, the A319 brings increased retardant capacity (4,500 gallons compared to 3,000 in the BAe 146) along with greater fuel range, allowing us to reach more remote incidents with a full payload.
Advanced avionics and enhanced performance further improve safety, reliability and manoeuvrability, positioning us to meet the realities of these longer, more intense wildfire years.
