Jet Excellence CEO: ‘It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle’

Pig farmer McQueen Campbell is the founder and CEO of Jet Excellence.

Farming pigs is a 24/7, 365-day business. McQueen Campbell sells one million of them every year – broken down that’s 20,000 per week from 11 farms across North Carolina.

It is that constant work and delivery of care that prepared the founder and CEO of recently rebranded Jet Excellence for the aviation business, he tells us. 

Formerly known as BellAir, Campbell acquired the entity in 2018 looking for a way to charter the King Air 200 and CJ2 aircraft he part-owned. Fast-forward to October 2025, he just closed a deal to acquire Red Wing Aviation from Vista Global, adding 19 Citation Xs to take the fleet to 33 aircraft. More on that later. 

If you’d asked Campbell back in 2022 whether he planned to acquire an operator with 19 aircraft and had ideas in the pipeline for further expansion, he admits he may well have said something like “pigs might fly”. 

Where it all began

Campbell has not led what could be described as a typical path into the industry. Born and bred in rural North Carolina, Campbell’s grandfather was a pilot in the late 1930s, and he grew up going to his house spending many hours poring over aeroplane magazines. 

“My brother took flying lessons when he was in high school, he’s a couple of years older than me, so I followed him about six months later,” says Campbell. “I got my licence while I was in high school and finished my instrument and commercial ratings at university.”

Having bought and sold aircraft over his 37 years of piloting to help pay for his flying habit, Campbell didn’t have a plan to grow BellAir when he began chartering. He also has a real estate business, in addition to his farming and aviation operations. 

“We did our first flight at BellAir in February 2019. Covid hit in mid-2020 and turned everything upside down,” he explained. “Between 2019 and 2022/23, I realised it’s tough to be in this business without enough scale to hire the right talent. Whether you have two aircraft or 20, you still need a chief pilot, director of operations, and director of maintenance.” 

Campbell’s fleet includes 27 owned or leased Citation X aircraft.

Positioning for growth

Campbell ran it himself for the first couple of years, before beginning a hiring process in 2022 and adding a further eight aircraft.

“In January 2024 I brought in Michael Vargo, who had run Mountain Aviation, which had the world’s largest fleet of Citation Xs,” he said. “It was a natural fit for us to look at the Citation X. At the same time, in early 2024, the market on the wholesale B2B side began to normalise. That created an opportunity to exit unprofitable aircraft types, like light jets, and simplify our fleet.”

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During Covid Campbell felt he needed about 10 aircraft just to cover overheads. When the market normalised in early 2024 and used prices returned to what he considered “normal”, Campbell moved on aircraft that weren’t “right for long-term growth” and added those that were.

Campbell, who holds an accountancy degree, believes farming has helped him because it’s a “24/7, 365-day” business. “When you’re caring for animals, you never switch off. The floating-fleet wholesale aviation model is similar – we joke that it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. Peak travel is from Thursday to Monday, exactly when most people are relaxing.

“Being in business, whether real estate, pigs or planes, is fundamentally about problem-solving. The speed and cost of not solving problems is higher in aviation, but the skills translate: accounting, finance, general business sense and hiring the right team with the right experience.”

Rebranding decisions 

Campbell said he decided to change the name to achieve clarity in the market. BellAir was associated with light and midsize jets, while some incorrectly assumed Bel Air was tied to Bel Air, California – it wasn’t; “Bell” is derived from “Campbell”.

“A new brand made more sense. A clean slate for merging the two under one parent: Jet Excellence. We’ll move all the Citation Xs onto the Red Wing certificate, but they’ll operate under the Jet Excellence brand,” said Campbell. “The timing felt right.”

The fleet made up of 27 Citation Xs is a mix of owned and leased. At present, the team is “laser-focused” on crewing the 19 aircraft acquired from Red Wing, he noted.

“We didn’t hire our first pilot until closing, as we didn’t want overhead unless the deal was done,” said Campbell. It typically takes 45–60 days from beginning interviews to having a pilot through drug testing, background checks and simulator training. 

Jet Excellence needs to hire about 60 pilots for the 19 aircraft, according to Campbell. “We’re probably 90% of the way there with many still in training. We’re flying 15 of the 19 tails, and expect to add one or two a week through year-end,” he explained. “They were already on the certificate, so no conformity was required – that saved a huge amount of work.”

Despite some difficulties in onboarding so many pilots (scaling fast is always harder than growing organically), Campbell expects to begin seeing the financial benefits of scale by mid-2026. 

Jet Excellence acquired 19 Citation X aircraft from Red Wing Aviation.

Looking ahead

In five years, Campbell expects the company to have added another make and model to the fleet, allowing the Citation Xs to be retired as they age. He also predicts that Jet Excellence will have determined whether or not to enter the aircraft management business. “It’s very different from the wholesale floating-fleet model, but there are synergies with our existing expertise,” he said.

Judging what success looks like for the operator, Campbell said it comes down to “remaining opportunistic” on growth. 

“I’d never have thought two years ago that I’d acquire 19 Citation Xs. But the opportunity and the team aligned,” he explained. “I approach aviation like real estate or farming: if the right opportunity comes, I’ll pursue it.”

Aviation is a changing business 

Campbell said he has seen a “huge amount” of change since jumping into the aviation business in 2018. 

“When I started, a light jet pilot I hired earned about $75,000 a year. Post-Covid that’s almost doubled. Fuel pre-Covid was about $3.50 a gallon; now it’s $5.25-$5.50,” he said. “Pilot salaries, shortages, training slot shortages, mechanic availability – it has all changed massively.”

During Covid, demand surged, so pricing went up temporarily, but early 2024 saw normalisation and pricing came down at the wholesale level, Campbell explained. “Some people who entered the market during Covid have since left, but looking at the data, macro conditions still look strong, wealth creation continues and demand remains robust.

“That’s why I invested and why the Red Wing opportunity made sense,” he explained. “Covid forced a lot of people to rethink their plans. Goals matter, but you must stay adaptable because markets shift quickly.”

Speaking of adaptability, Campbell puts it near top of his list of “must-haves” when trying to stand out in a crowded, arguably saturated, charter market. 

“I’ve invested in businesses where the product is a commodity – fuel, timber products. Aviation can become a commodity if you don’t deliver exceptional service and reliability,” he said. “Operating aircraft is personal, you need to make fast decisions. I only get involved when something isn’t working. Being small, nimble and low-overhead is our advantage. We’re not trying to be the biggest; we’re trying to be the best. There’s always room for that.”