June 2021 marked David Mast's 25th year as the president and CEO of Precision Aviation Group, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with aviation support operations on three continents. Mast's colleagues, partners, employees and friends recently threw a surprise party for him called ‘A Celebration of Leadership’.

Mast's CEO story of two and a half decades started small. In 1996 when he first took charge, revenues were just $250,000. Back then, PAG had 14 employees. Today, PAG has 402 personnel and projected revenues for 2021 are $260 million.

Mast's early career included experiences in sales, finance and operations management with companies such as AT&T and First Financial Management Corp. His journey with PAG began as inventory manager, then sales manager, advancing to VP of sales and marketing, followed by promotion on his merits and contributions to president 25 years ago. By 1999, three years into his CEO tenure, PAG was named to the INC. 500 as one of the fastest-growing companies in America.

In 1996, Mast looked to grow the business far more aggressively. When the company leapt to revenues of $14 million, he recalls the story of creating a five-year roadmap: “How shall we build to $50 million or more in less than 60 months?”

To keep building the business, he knew he needed more resources. He negotiated with three successive private equity investor groups in roughly five-year series each, to vault PAG forward. Some of his strongest admirers are those huge institutional shareholders who consider PAG to be a ‘home run’ investment. With his current round of capitalisation, Mast is intent on taking PAG to record-high growth and value creation. He is focused on advancing the brand, the business, the careers of his people and the shareholder value of PAG.

PAG has nine operating subsidiaries today, with 17 business units in 13 domestic and international locations, in five US states and stretching as far as Canada, Brazil and Singapore. That includes 13 FAA-approved Part 145 repair stations. PAG has accomplished 10 add-on acquisitions since 2004, each integrated effectively into the growing family of enterprises. Since 2002, PAG has built six green-field business units from scratch, all the while adhering to its values of quality, safety and customer service. Numerous quality and excellence awards from OEMs and other major customers dot the hallways at the head office of Precision Aviation Group, and it is that reputation for quality that is one of David Mast's lasting legacies.

Mast is often quoted in the press as an expert voice in the industry. “We want to be a better company every day,” he states. “That's in terms of employer of choice; that's in terms of efficiency, good stewards and a growing, successful business. And part of that philosophy is really focusing on how do we better serve our customers.”

Quoting a former board member of PAG: “David Mast is known as a brilliant, fair, sometimes tough-minded leader, and a highly-accomplished business-builder. He is also known as a great boss by those who know him well. It is tangibly evident in the positive spirit and superior performance of the PAG organisation. Mast has fostered a long-term high performance culture.”