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“I think that’s a great business, to be the broker,” he says. PLS arranges private charter flights through a network of vetted aircraft operators, with safety and operator quality central to the way the company selects options for its clients. It can also coordinate ground transportation and catering. The structure gives Pyne latitude to search for an aircraft around the requirements of an individual journey. As he puts it, “Finding them the best solution for what they need for their mission is everything.” His business depends on knowing where to look, who to trust and how to make the arrangements work for the traveler.

He sees a place for that service even among clients who already have substantial aviation arrangements. Aircraft ownership, fractional shares, jet cards and charter can coexist within the same household or business. A client may need an alternative for a particular itinerary or simply want a competing quote.

 

“We fit into everybody’s solution on some level,” he says. PLS does not have to secure all of a client’s flying to establish a valuable relationship.

That approach also changes the financial conversation. Pyne can accommodate clients who prefer to deposit funds in advance, but he says he often encourages them to retain their money until they need a flight. “Keep the money in your account,” he says. “Let it get interest for you.” It is an invitation to evaluate PLS trip by trip, comparing its proposal with other available options. The company has to earn the next booking through its performance on the last one.

The commitment Pyne makes in return is personal. “You get me on the front end, the back end, all the way through everything,” he says. “I’m always responsive and available.” He has a team behind him, but direct access to his experience is central to what he sells. That promise raises a practical question for any founder whose relationships are also the foundation of the business: how far can it grow while keeping that access meaningful?

Pyne’s answer begins with ownership. He says PLS is self-funded and that, although private-equity firms and other potential investors have approached him, he has no outside investors requiring rapid expansion. “I’m able to do it myself and grow it how I want,” he says. He intends to add people as the business needs them. “I want to grow with quality growth, with quality people, and just sustain the business.” Independence gives him room to decide what size of company he wants to run and what demands he is prepared to accept.

Football remains part of that business life. His podcast, On the Line with Jim Pyne, whose name his wife suggested, gives him an opportunity to speak with coaches and others in the sport. Those conversations also extend relationships across the worlds in which he works. He describes clients ranging from NFL owners and players to corporate executives, and clearly enjoys their company. “It’s fun to be in the middle of aviation, sports, business,” he says.

Asked what would make PLS his greatest professional accomplishment, however, Pyne turns to his children. His daughter has begun a career in investment banking; his two sons are pursuing their own paths in school and athletics. He thinks about how they have watched him work, just as he watched his father. “How I measure my success is their success, to see how they’re doing,” he says.

For now, his professional ambition is to keep doing work he enjoys for people he likes, with a business he can shape himself. Each new trip gives him another opportunity to make good on the promise in his pitch: you get Jim Pyne.

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