Maximizing Business & Family Time with a Private Jet

In 1997, at the age of 28, Omar Haedo embarked on a journey that would eventually lead him to become a prominent figure in the world of insurance. Today Omar is President and CEO of Elan Insurance Group, headquartered in Miami, seeking to bring competitive, cutting-edge health benefit products to the marketplace. But his story begins with his entrepreneurial spirit...

While heading up Cigna in Puerto Rica in the late 1990s, he realized the company had outgrown its current space. Approaching his superiors with a proposal to create a standalone profit-sharing plan, he was met with scepticism.

Undeterred, he decided instead to build his own company in Puerto Rico which he later sold as part of his journey. Moving in 2011 to Miami, Florida, he hoped for a more relaxed lifestyle and a break from the business world, but instead embarked on a brand-new adventure: starting a company in the Caribbean from his Miami base, showcasing his entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to his work.

It was this commitment that opened the door on his journey into the world of aviation.

“To develop the business in St. Thomas and St Croix [US Virgin Islands], you [board a scheduled airline] flight on Monday. It's a tourist destination, and you get there by three. In winter, you get there by four. You’ve lost Monday,” Omar shares.

Of the return flight to Miami, “If you leave on the 2pm flight on a Thursday, you’ve got to be at the airport by 11am. So, while you’re away Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, in reality you were really only meeting people on the Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Additional time is lost traveling between St. Thomas and St. Croix (at $400 per trip) aboard the intra-Island airline service. “If the 7am flight is full, you’ve got to be on the 9.30am flight. And if the 5pm return flight is full, you need to be on the 3pm service,” he adds, highlighting the inefficiency of the available airline service for his business requirements.

“Of course, it's always late...so your productivity [is diminished further] and you're not at home [when you hoped to be]. I have five kids, two grandkids, and I want to spend more time at home.”

Finding himself making the same journey multiple times per year, Omar started looking for a better solution, and he found it in private aviation. In 2017, he decided to become a pilot...

Enjoying the Benefits of Aircraft Ownership

Once he earned his wings Omar started his journey into aircraft ownership with a single-engine Mooney. Flying the Mooney on business trips made him realize how much more he could get done in 24 hours.

The airline flight from St. Thomas to St. Croix, for example, is a 20-minute flight. With delays and a requirement to check-in 90 minutes early, the reality is more like two hours. “In the Mooney, it's a 20-minute trip,” he highlights. “And then you go to St. Thomas, at San Juan, and it's a 30-minute trip.

“You can get going. Everything is easy – and that helped me really develop the business in the islands,” he adds.

As Omar’s business grew, so did his need for more range, and upon earning his commercial pilot’s license and instrument rating he upgraded to a Daher TBM 910, especially enjoying flying a pressurized aircraft above the weather, and going further, faster.

Then, with around 1,100 hours’ flying under his belt, Omar learned about the HondaJet. One month later he was heading to FlightSafety International to earn his Type Rating, having sold the TBM 910 and bought a HondaJet.

The HondaJet allowed Omar to continue flying to the Caribbean from Miami while expanding his business within the US. “...We now do business in Florida and we have expanded into Texas – Houston, Dallas, Austin, El Paso – and North Carolina.

“So, on Monday we can be in Houston and have dinners with clients, then on Tuesday we can be holding training meetings with people. On Tuesday night we can head to Dallas, meeting with people on Wednesday, and on Wednesday night head to Orlando for meetings.

“Thursday we’ll meet with more people, then on Thursday night we can be back at home. That circuit is impossible when you’re flying on the airlines,” he argues.

Omar recounts one scenario in which the HondaJet helped facilitate a major opportunity with a vendor with whom he had a ‘deep dive’ video meeting planned one Monday afternoon.

“I woke up on the Friday and thought, ‘You know, this is a pretty important thing that's happening’, so I called the guy that Friday morning asking where he was. It turns out he was at his beach house in Cape May, New Jersey. ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘we're flying into Cape May Municipal and we're going to have a face-to-face meeting all afternoon followed by dinner.’

“So, my son and I flew up to Cape May – we were there by noon, and we met with this guy. It was a live meeting for four hours followed by dinner. We left knowing as much about him as he does, super confident about what we were doing.”

Surviving a HondaJet Crash & Commitment to Safety

In February 2023, Omar was flying from Miami-Executive (Kendall-Tamiami) Airport to Houston-William P. Hobby Airport. He flew his first approach into Runway 04 and, due to traffic, was asked to go around and complete a circuit before starting a second approach to land.

After touchdown, the airplane deviated to the left and veered off the runway into a grassy area. In soft ground, the airplane lost its nose gear then slid for few dozen meters before coming to rest with its right wing severely damaged.

All six occupants escaped uninjured. While the aircraft remained intact, it was damaged beyond repair when the crane lifting it out of the grass punched two holes in the fuselage.

Three weeks later Honda delivered a new jet to Omar and he resumed flying. Looking back at the accident he says he learnt a few lessons. He notes that he had not been carrying enough fuel to cater for any go-arounds and sudden runway changes which brought more stress into the situation.

Adding a gusty wind and family members aboard the jet, the various factors combined to contribute to the runway excursion.

Following the experience, Omar has acted to increase his training. He has also become the Head of the HondaJet Safety Committee, and is on a mission to promote safety and education within the aviation community.

With an emphasis on learning from his mistakes and adhering to the numbers, Omar has a message he's determined to share with fellow pilots.

Watch the interview with Omar Haedo on Biz Jet TV: