Founded

1991

Headquarters

Pittsburgh

Key People

Ramy Sidhom, head of aviation finance; Keith Hayes, senior vice president

Number of Employees

35

Phone Number

(888) 339-2832

Website

PNC Financial

PNC Aviation Finance

PNC Aviation Finance provides up to 100 percent financing of turboprops and jets operated solely under FAA Part 91 rules, which cover corporate and private aircraft, including those that are fractionally owned. The company does not finance commercial or piston aircraft or aircraft manufactured more than 20 years ago.

Former Dean Witter analyst Jerry Dunn and sports marketing professional Ken Wilson founded Boise, Idaho–based Aviation Finance Group in 1998. A full-service commercial lending business, the company specialized in non-recourse financing of private jets and developed its own origination platform.

With backing by Prudential Financial, AFG originated nearly $1 billion in aircraft financing before being acquired in 2004 by Pittsburgh-based PNC Finance Services Group and changing its name to PNC Aviation Finance. Dunn stayed on through 2005 and Wilson remained vice president through 2008, when both men co-founded a Boise-based commercial lender called A10 Capital.

The company further expanded when PNC acquired National City Corporate Air, a division of National City Bank, in 2008.

Wayne Starling, a former senior vice president of Fifth Third Bank who had joined the company in 2000, stayed on as senior vice president and national sales manager through 2017. A leader in the aircraft finance industry, Starling served as chairman of the National Aircraft Resale Association’s products and services advisory council in 2015. 

Ramy Sidhom joined PNC as operational risk manager in 2008, becoming chief operating officer of equipment finance in 2012 and head of aviation finance in 2018. PNC Aviation Finance posted a record year in 2017, when it provided financing to more than 170 clients and originations were up nearly 40 percent compared with 2016. At the time, PNC Aviation Finance had more than 500 business aircraft in its portfolio.

Offering asset- and credit-based loans as well as leasing options, PNC provided more than $3 billion in aircraft financing over the five years ending in July 2021.