Navy Contracting: Competition in Providing Maintenance for Navy Aircraft

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Navy's contract for maintenance services on the T-34C and T-44A aircrafts. GAO evaluated the Navy's contracting methods and the results of the change from a sole-source negotiated contract to a fixed-price, competitive bid contract, including: (1) Navy procurement procedures; (2) the total cost of maintenance before and after competition; (3) reliability of the aircraft fleet and quality of maintenance before and after competition; and (4) lessons that the Navy learned from the competition that it might use to improve future maintenance contract decisions.