Advanced Aviation Team: ‘99 problems’ but the aircraft isn’t one

Advanced Aviation Team's Ambassador programme is built around a dedicated service model, with each member supported by a team that manages every detail of the charter.

From working for former US president George W Bush on his 2004 election campaign to organising 1,130-plus flights for the Biden/Harris presidential campaign in 2020, it is fair to say Gregg Brunson-Pitts knows campaign flying and high-stakes political travel like Jay-Z knows hip-hop.

The founder and CEO of Arlington, Virginia-based charter brokerage Advanced Aviation Team (AAT), known for its work in political and high-stakes travel, began his career as an intern in the White House Travel Office, rising through the ranks to serve as director under the Bush administration.

Now AAT is launching its Ambassador programme, formalising a more structured charter offering for high-net-worth individuals, family offices and corporate flight departments, building on its established client base beyond political campaigns.

“I’ve always focused on being the go-to for campaign travel and world leaders, and I hope we’ve achieved that,” Brunson-Pitts told CJI. “Now we’re expanding that into new verticals and growing the business from there.”

AAT recently appointed a new president, Peter Newell, to assist with the expansion. Newell, who also served as White House Travel Officer director, but under the Obama administration, arrives from KPMG where he spent almost nine years in senior leadership, advising clients on complex transactions and growth strategies.

“Peter’s background aligns perfectly with where AAT is headed,” he said. “He understands the operational precision required when travel is high-visibility, time-sensitive or security-intensive.”

Brunson-Pitts believes his and Newell’s experience as directors of the Travel Office is invaluable to AAT. “We sat in the client seat. We were on the other side of the transaction, so we have a view of what the client need really is, how to speak to a client all the way from a proposal and the shared language that clients really require at that high level,” he said.

Where AAT began

Following his White House internship, Brunson-Pitts joined the advance team on President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, travelling ahead to coordinate and set up public events. After the campaign, he was offered a role in the White House Travel Office.

“I had no idea what that was, but when you get offered a job in the White House, you don’t turn that down,” he said.

There, Brunson-Pitts managed the charter aircraft that operate alongside Air Force One, transporting members of the White House press corps, Secret Service and staff who do not travel on the president’s aircraft. During that term he was promoted to director and later stayed on to help establish the Obama administration’s travel office.

“Then I had no plan for my life because I had worked for President Bush for seven and a half years. So I sort of just stumbled into the industry because I liked charters – I had done it for so long in the travel office,” he recalled.

After working briefly for several charter companies, Brunson-Pitts founded AAT in 2015. At that time it was just him, his laptop, a kitchen counter and his newborn son in a sling.

“People come to me and say, ‘Should I start a company?’ and ‘I really want to start a business’, and I say I don’t know what I was thinking starting mine. But it has grown steadily and organically. Over the years, a lot of business has just gravitated towards us,” he said.

‘A sense of calm’

Drawing on his White House experience, Brunson-Pitts said the most important ingredient he brings to running AAT is “calm”.

“Our clients have lots going on. There are so many things that go into moving around a world leader or a politician, and the plane is just one piece of the puzzle,” he explained. “It’s a very important, vital piece, but it’s just one. So we try to be the consistent, calm piece of that puzzle.

“We try to say: you have 99 problems in a day, but the plane is not going to be one of them.”

That calm has sown the seeds for a successful business. To date, the company has relied largely on referrals, with Brunson-Pitts doing limited outreach over the years.

“All our growth has been based mostly on referrals and the trusted relationships we’ve built,” he said. “Peter is coming on board to work alongside me and grow the company, which is exciting. He’ll be focusing primarily on business development.”

The Ambassador programme

AAT is both a broker and “an advisor”. It does not own or operate any aircraft. It sources aircraft across the charter market, supporting anything from a one-off trip flight to a dedicated charter aircraft for a long-term contract. The company charters everything from helicopters and King Airs all the way up to ultra-long-range VIP airliners.

“The vast majority of where our time and energy is spent is on super-mids, heavies and ultra-long-range. When campaign season really kicks in – presidential campaign season – it’s a lot of regional jets and airliners,” said Brunson-Pitts.

“We are also advisors – we advise our clients on matching their needs and on what would be the best option,” he added.

It is through these relationships with his clientele that the Ambassador programme was born. Launched in late March 2026, the jet card programme offers clients access to a fleet of super-light and super-midsize aircraft with transparent hourly pricing. All of which are 20 years of age or newer, and includes guaranteed high-speed WiFi.

The programme is built around a dedicated service model, with each member supported by a team that manages every detail of the charter, he added.

“The jet card model never really fitted what I was hoping to offer our clients. But we would talk to potential clients and they would ask, ‘Do you have a programme? Is there a membership? Is there something I can buy into?’ So I noticed that was potentially a hole in our offering,” said Brunson-Pitts.

“What we hope to achieve with Ambassador is a programme offered at a higher level – for a family office or a corporate client looking for something more structured. They get a bulk hourly rate that they can plug into a budget, so it’s predictable, and they can get the same AAT customer service but know that availability is there.”

The frequency of AAT’s presence in the charter market, especially in the US, where it organises a significant volume of flights per year (and more during election cycles), gives it “buying strength”.

“We’re so heavily involved in the market and brokering that many flights, it enhances our relationships with operators. If someone wants to buy into our Ambassador programme, we have buying strength in the market for them. Even though we’re a small company comparatively, we move a lot of planes,” he said.

Discretion is key

AAT is used to keeping a low profile. It is non-partisan and has been able to operate successfully because those in the know, know it does what it says on the tin. “We keep a low profile. I think in that aspect, we hopefully achieve for our clients what they want us to,” said Brunson-Pitts.

So much so, his friends and to some extent his family, don’t know exactly what he does for a living. “I think they know who we work for and who our clients are, but they don’t know exactly who they are,” he noted. “Even amongst my closest friends, I just don’t talk about it. Everything is kept low profile and very discreet.”

It is this approach that has made AAT evermore relevant to corporate flight departments and family offices who may be engaging in corporate crisis travel or M&A shuttles, said Brunson-Pitts.

“Since I started Advanced Aviation Team eleven years ago. There’s a lot more interest from family offices and corporates in having a provider like us – someone with our experience and our pedigree – to provide a private charter,” he explained. “There’s been a lot more interest in it, especially in the last few years, given the security environment.”

Building the team

AAT only works because of the people who make it. With the arrival of Newell and a new trip support expert on the way, the team will be eight strong by the second half of the year.

Working in such high-pressure environments managing large-scale, time-sensitive programmes means always being prepared for something to go wrong. Brunson-Pitts said he has no “hard and fast rule” for deciding when to solve a problem himself versus when to delegate.

“Some of it is just following your gut,” he explained. “I have an amazing team who I trust deeply and who have been with me a very long time. But also part of trusting your gut is knowing that there are some things that, as the owner and CEO of the company, just need to be addressed by me.”

Brunson-Pitts is always on the lookout for new team members, and doesn’t necessarily hire based on aviation experience.

“Team dynamic is the number one thing I look for in someone who will join our team. I’m always looking for people within the industry or from other industries who will fit that, because the other things I can train. I can teach you about planes,” he said.

Looking to the future, he would like “first and foremost, our team to be happy”. “I would also like our clients to be flying safely and successfully. And hopefully we’ll be working on presidential campaigns in the next few years – that would be fantastic,” he said.