Texas Jet
Reed Pigman is overseeing more dirt moving at Texas Jet.
Texas Jet Inc. is still growing at age 45.
The fixed-based operator and aviation service company based at Meacham International Airport is undertaking expansion having broken ground earlier this month on a roughly 37,000-square-foot hangar.
The expansion represents the fourth of five hangars planned in the company’s six-year, $30 million expansion venture. Texas Jet has grown from two hangars at its founding in 1978 to 24, when this one is complete, totaling more than 530,000 square feet.
This project will cost about $3.5 million, according to paperwork filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. It is scheduled to be complete by June 2024. Edge Crew Construction of Bridgeport is the construction manager.
As an FBO, Texas Jet offers a comprehensive range of services to support private and corporate aircraft operations, including aircraft fueling, ground handling, aircraft maintenance and repairs, concierge services, aircraft charter, and aircraft sales and acquisitions.
The company has established a strong reputation within the aviation community for its exceptional service, attention to detail, and commitment to safety. As evidence, for the past 17 years, pilots have ranked Texas Jet in the top five for independent U.S. FBOs.
At its helm for the 45 years since its founding has been Reed Pigman Jr.
“I'm still having fun,” Pigman said. “I’ve got a great management team. I get to focus more on building hangars, and the management team does an awesome job.”
Today, Texas Jet employs 40, he said.
Pigman first sat in a pilot’s seat — a J3 Cub — when he was 11. His father had given him the controls. Young Pigman had two cushions under him and two behind him at his back so he could see.
He father, Reed Pigman Sr., founded American Flyers Airline in 1939. He died in a plane crash in 1966. The younger Pigman was just 15 years old. His father’s death did nothing to deter Pigman. Rather he was more inspired than ever to fly.
He received his private license when he was 17. At age 20, he received his commercial license.
He earned money while attending Oklahoma in Norman by flying charters and working at American Flyers Airlines’ flight training school in Ardmore. His mother was by now running the company.
After graduating, he worked at American Flyers full time as a flight instructor and eventually moved into the management of the company by 1974. He continued to run the company after his mother died in 1975.
Pigman purchased Piper Southwest in 1978 and renamed it Texas Jet.