On Tuesday, Americans will mark ballots for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the Senate — two of them special elections — 36 governorships, three territorial governorships and thousands of state legislative posts. But long before the first vote is cast, the republic’s politics has been conducted at altitude. Moving a candidate, with staff, donors, press and sometimes armed security in tow, is no longer a matter of booking a commercial flight; as Taylor Rains reports in Business Insider, it has become a trade of its own.
One of its masters is Gregg Brunson-Pitts, founder and chief executive of Advanced Aviation Team, a Washington, DC firm he set up in 2015. It arranges VIP travel for ultrawealthy families, celebrities and corporate chiefs, with a specialty in campaigns, and it calls itself nonpartisan. Federal Election Commission filings for this cycle show it took roughly $58,000 from Senator Susan Collins’ leadership PAC and $66,000 from Representative Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign committee; the campaigns of Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Jim Justice of West Virginia also paid. Across a single election cycle such contracts run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. “We’re seeing organizations plan earlier and lock in travel support sooner,” Brunson-Pitts said, “because once the calendar tightens, capacity disappears quickly.”
The old hands of the White House travel office
Brunson-Pitts spent eight years running the White House Travel Office under President George W. Bush, where a charter jet carrying the press corps and Secret Service would almost always fly in tandem with Air Force One. That schooling — chartered aircraft, armed guards, government protocol — became the firm’s foundation. “Our approach allows us to support clients affiliated with any party,” he said. Peter Newell, who directed the same office under President Barack Obama, joined as company president in March. Vice president Jonathan Tasler organized the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 that Mitt Romney’s campaign chartered in 2012.
Unlike operators such as NetJets or Flexjet, which keep their own fleets, Advanced Aviation is a broker with access to contracted aircraft. “We can source smaller private jets, but we can also do group travel for 100 or more people and customize an airliner,” Brunson-Pitts said. “Not a lot of brokers can do that; that’s what sets us apart.”
The machine that flies
The client list covers two decades of cycles and both parties: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Bernie Sanders, Ron DeSantis and “many more.” In 2024 the firm flew Doug Emhoff aboard a Bombardier CRJ-200 and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on a Boeing 757; Biden campaigned on a Boeing 737 in 2020. Aircraft are reworked inside and out — seat layouts changed, logos applied, anything from simple decals to fully repainted liveries. “From Labor Day to Election Day, the travel gets really intense,” Brunson-Pitts said. “So we try to make it a home away from home with WiFi, power, and catering; maybe their favorite food or a meal from their favorite local restaurant.” Down the homestretch, he said, the plane “becomes a working office and a home away from home,” while his team coordinates crews, airports, ground transport, security and last-minute changes “so the candidate can keep moving.”
Security is the most intricate variable. Sitting members of Congress sometimes receive Capitol Police protection; governors rely on state details; most first-time candidates hire private guards. A small group of the nationally prominent, or the credibly threatened, travels under Secret Service protection, which can dictate everything from the choice of airport to how close the aircraft may park to a terminal.
What the sky costs
Senator Bernie Sanders drew criticism earlier this year for flying privately during his coast-to-coast “Fighting Oligarchy” tour of 25 cities; campaign finance records put the flights at more than $221,000. Defending himself on Fox News in May, Sanders said the packed rally schedule made commercial flying impractical and charters were the only way to reach the tens of thousands who came. Biden, during his 2008 run, made the same arithmetic plain to ABC News: “If I had a plane, I would make 30% more appearances in the state of Iowa, in New Hampshire, in Nevada. That’s where money does make a difference.”
Once crews, rental, fuel, repositioning flights, landing fees and branding are counted, a season of charters can cost millions. Financial documents show the 2020 Biden campaign spent about $2.2 million on private flying. Forbes estimated Vice President JD Vance’s campaign Boeing 737 in 2024 — not chartered by Brunson-Pitts’ firm — likely ran to around $30,000 an hour. Pricing varies by season, passenger count and comfort level, Brunson-Pitts said; the press and the Secret Service typically pay for their own seats.
Charters skip the crowded terminals for private aircraft stations: minimal screening, fast boarding, quick turnarounds. Even candidates who fly commercial for the sake of appearances may arrive with armed guards and drive straight onto the tarmac from the motorcade. “We usually pick the operator from a pool that is familiar with the process for an armed detail,” Brunson-Pitts said. “There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes coordination and paperwork, and the pilots need to be aware, but we know how it should flow so there are no day-of surprises.”