Protest of Partial Cancellation of IFB

A company protested the partial cancellation of an invitation for bids (IFB) issued by the Forest Service for aircraft services for various national parks. The protester contended that the agency's price estimate on the initial solicitation for the item was too low, and that the agency should have accepted the protester's voluntary price reduction. The contracting officer canceled the individual item and resolicited the requirement because the lowest qualifying bid was more than 15 percent above the Government's estimate and because there were insufficient funds to award the item at the qualifying low bid price. Under these circumstances, the decision to resolicit was not unreasonable. Late modification of the bid price was not permitted since the protester's bid had already been rejected as unreasonably priced. The protest was denied.