Black-owned business loses Blue Angels contract after more than four decades serving the Navy

Pensacola’s Sewing Box says it was not notified before the Navy awarded a new contract to another company.

After dressing the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels for more than four decades, Pensacola’s Black-owned Sewing Box has lost its contract to a Virginia-based government contractor. The decision has fueled criticism online, with supporters questioning the Navy’s procurement process.

For 43 years, Candy Whitehurst and her Pensacola shop, The Sewing Box, handcrafted the iconic blue-and-yellow ceremonial flight suits worn by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels. According to Military.com, the Navy awarded a new five-year contract worth up to $1.69 million to Virginia-based Aquila International LLC, ending a partnership that Navy records trace back to the 1970s.

Speaking to local outlet WEAR-TV, whose reporting was later highlighted by Social Justice Vet on Instagram, Candy Whitehurst said Navy personnel had traditionally notified her when it was time to renew the Blue Angels contract. This year, she says, that call never came.

“I would have never ever thought that my Blues would treat me like this,” Whitehurst said. The new agreement requires Aquila International to manufacture, alter and repair the Blue Angels’ specialized flame-resistant ceremonial flight suits while conducting fittings at Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Facility El Centro.

Military.com notes that Aquila’s contract is an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) agreement, meaning the $1.69 million represents the contract’s maximum value rather than guaranteed spending. Federal procurement rules require agencies to advertise contracts, but they do not require agencies to personally notify contractors when contracts are expiring.

The post drew thousands of reactions on Instagram. One commenter wrote: “Raise your hand if you knew that a Black woman handled this job prior to this?????” Not everyone agreed the Navy was at fault. A commenter argued, “That’s what happens when you are given a sole source for years and don’t understand the bid process.”

Aquila International has rejected suggestions that connections influenced the award. The Blue Angels uniform contract also allows Aquila to subcontract portions of the work, leaving open the possibility that local businesses could still participate in producing or repairing Blue Angels uniforms.

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