Protest could keep air tanker on ground through fire season

A protest of the U.S. Forest Service’s next-generation air tanker contract may leave three new jet-powered firefighting planes on the ground for the rest of the 2012 firefighting season. One of those planes is Neptune Aviation’s Tanker 41, a BAe-146 that arrived at the company’s Missoula base last week. Neptune already has another BAe-146 under contract with the Forest Service, in addition to seven Lockheed P2V planes. It expected to take delivery of a third BAe later this month. Minden Aviation of Minden, Nev., was to bring on a new BAe-146 this summer under the new Forest Service contract. That five-year program was worth $225 million. Two other firefighting aviation companies protested the contract in late June. The federal General Accountability Office allows 100 days to review and decide the case. That means the contract could be delayed until early October...more

Their rule may "allow" 100 days to review and decide, but that doesn't mean they have to take all that time.  They've already had the protests for a month, plenty of time to act.