Neptune Aviation, a Missoula-based aerial firefighting company, is converting a commercial Airbus A319 passenger jet into a firefighting tanker — a first for any air tanker fleet in the world. The modified aircraft is expected to be operational by 2028 and will carry significantly more fire retardant than the company’s existing aircraft.
A Bigger, Faster Platform
The A319 was purchased from Brothens Airlines in Europe and is currently being modified at a facility in Alabama. The conversion requires stripping out passenger seats, luggage bins, and galley equipment before installing a specialized retardant tank system.
When complete, the aircraft will carry 4,500 gallons of fire retardant — roughly 50 percent more than the 3,000-gallon capacity of Neptune’s nine BAe 146 jets, which make up its current fleet. Nic Lynn, Neptune’s Vice President of Operations, told KTVH the upgrade brings speed and crew safety benefits alongside the added capacity. “Our 319 will carry 4,500 gallons of retardant, and it’ll be a little faster,” Lynn said. “It has a number of enhanced safety systems to make it safer for the crew and the firefighters on the ground.”
Ground turnaround is designed to be rapid. The aircraft can be loaded with retardant in seven to eight minutes using a three-inch hose system that pumps at approximately 500 gallons per minute.
Expanding the Fleet, Retiring Older Aircraft
The A319 is the first of what Neptune plans to be a broader fleet transformation. The company intends to add five to six A319s over time, pushing its total fleet from nine aircraft to roughly fifteen. The older BAe 146s are expected to be phased out gradually over the next decade as the newer jets come online.
Neptune is one of four large air tanker companies operating in the United States. Most of its aircraft are contracted to the U.S. Forest Service and have been deployed across a wide geographic range this season, from Colorado to Oregon. The company’s fleet delivered 5.6 million gallons of retardant during the current fire season.
Year-Round Operations Now the Norm
Lynn described a significant shift in how the company thinks about its operational calendar. “We don’t talk about fire seasons anymore,” he told KTVH. “We talk about fire years. We are in year three of having aircraft continuously deployed 12 months a year.”
That change reflects broader conditions across the American West, where wildfire activity has become less seasonal and more persistent. For Neptune, continuous deployment has become standard operating practice rather than an exception.
Economic Footprint in Missoula
Neptune Aviation employs approximately 250 people, the majority of them based in Missoula. The company’s operations place it among the city’s more significant private employers in the aviation sector, and the planned fleet expansion suggests that workforce could grow alongside it.
The A319 project represents a notable capital investment in next-generation firefighting infrastructure — and positions a Montana company at the leading edge of aerial tanker development as land managers across the West grapple with longer, more intense fire seasons that strain both ground and air resources.
What Comes Next
With the Alabama conversion work underway, Neptune is targeting 2028 for the A319’s first operational deployment. If the aircraft performs as expected, the company’s plan to add additional A319s over the following years would make the Missoula operation one of the most capable large air tanker fleets in the country.
The broader fleet modernization also reflects an industry adapting to year-round demand. As resource pressures in the rural West continue to mount, companies like Neptune are making long-term bets on larger, more capable platforms to keep pace with what land managers increasingly describe not as a seasonal threat, but a permanent one.
