Hey, what's happening? How are you guys doing? We're gonna have beautiful talk today with one of the best. Camilo, CEO of BetaJet.
Yes, thank you. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. It's a real pleasure to have you and for those of you watching, we have Camilo. Camilo Vadran, he's the CEO of BetaJet.
It's an amazing private jet company that not only does excellent services when it comes to the private jet, but many other things that he's gonna be going over today. So welcome and just tell us a little bit about yourself. Thank you for the invitation, Alvaro. It's always a pleasure to be with you, to be with all your following.
And I hope we can bring a lot of value to this conversation. The most important thing for us is really adding value for people that really don't know the industry, whatever source of information we can make, it would be obviously a pleasure to share whatever questions you have. Please shoot them over to Alvaro and I guess he will read them, but let's kick it off with a nice little conversation about luxury travel and private jets. I love it.
I love it. No, and thank you for being here. I wouldn't think of anybody better than you to get started with this, because we're putting the series together where we are connecting the people that are in this luxury segment, and everybody gets places somewhere, right? And you are the connector.
You are the one that flies people into every destination, including the beautiful city of Miami. So it is definitely a pleasure not only to be talking today, but to do business together. And we wanted to kind of get to know the trends that you're currently seeing when it comes to all these COVID regulations, people not able to fly that much. How do you see this happening in the private jet sector?
So first of all, the aviation industry was one of the, I think everybody took a hit, but we took a huge hit when it came to the commercial side and obviously the private side, just because of the general shutdown of every city, every country, every border. So there was a hit. So the first two borders were pretty tough. Now, we're looking at the third quarter where we saw a drop, huge drop on the aviation on the private side.
Cardo was off, commercial was completely shut. And then we come in with the private aviation side. And even though we think that because it's private, you can have access to different places in the world, it came down to the government regulations from each country. So that made it a little difficult when it came down to getting the permits, to getting people actually working at the airports.
And it's little bumps in the road, but that's really what we're here for, to help them get to the final destination. I wouldn't say perhaps a vacation at the beginning, but now obviously, people are starting to realize that we have to continue, that we have to keep going with our lives. And in this case, the luxury travel is not going to stop. Right?
And we see that. We see that. And I like that you're bringing that point up because right at the beginning, where everything was kind of in the air, I remember you putting all these flights together to ensure that people were able to fly safely back to their home countries. You know, because a lot of people were like, now, what can I do right now?
Can I fly back? Like I'm going to stay stuck here because the regulations on each country were so different. So I think you did an amazing labor there by helping everybody get safely home. But now, as you mentioned, the luxury travel is not going to stop, regardless of whatever is going on and those that have been staying at home for so long, they're craving, they're craving some vacation or at least to get it now, they're somewhere, no?
So I guess the question will be, where do you see the biggest trend right now? Where is everybody flying? Where do you see this? We still both.
Here's the thing. You know, using the human factor, of course, I like to, I like to reiterate this because for me, it's very important for people to understand that we have that human side, which is, you know, doing the humanitarian and repatriation flights, which are key for any government or any country to keep going at the beginning. We flew some doctors and nurses from country to country to help out in different Central American countries and Caribbean countries, Caribbean islands. So even though they, we see, let's say, Coursau, for example, they were very conservative with shutting down their borders, but there was a, to me, they had zero cases of COVID.
So people want to go to these islands. People want to, for example, to loom right now, it's open, where we landed, we would land in Cancun and we had a lot of flights going to Cancun, right? We have nearby here in the Miami area. We have Bahamas.
So commercial travel was completely shut to Bahamas, but the only way you can get there is private. So we actually took a lot of advantage and because the knowledge that we have in traveling to these islands to do like quick hops and getting away from the normal day-to-day operations from people here in Miami, then it was easy for us to take them over there. Absolutely. And I think this is exactly what's going on for the past few months.
And it's going to keep happening, you know, because now with people saying about the second wave things are happening, so it's not going to stop. It's always going to be a way around and it looks like private jet is the way to go. And just taking it a little bit more locally because we're both located in Miami, you know, and we... Well, you're, like, you're paradise, man.
You're paradise. Well, both, both. I mean, right now, everywhere that you can move a little bit outside of your home, it's paradise, right? As long as you have something that you can, you know, enjoy that you're good.
But, but definitely, I'm here in the Dominican Republic right now, but wishing and praying to be soon in Miami, I'll be going to Europe surely just to be there for a few weeks. But ideally... You mentioned Europe. For us, it was, it was a lot of, I guess, I was a little impressed, to be honest with you, because we basically try to, like, help the core clients, which are the Vida jets family and the new generation that, like, we want to, like, we like to call them.
So these new generation people, they wanted to have opportunities, have way where somewhere to go. So a lot of my European clients, you know, they're going to go to, they're going to Mico knows they're going, they're flying within Europe. So in this started back in June. So...
That's the thing. That's the thing. Everybody that is in Europe right now, they're moving around, like, it's all closed, and so easier to move. Regardless of the regulations with private, yet, private aviation, it makes it easier.
Now, the reason that I was bringing so much the Miami, you know, because we both love our city. We are both, you know, advocates of the 305, the Magic City, and we actually have seen a lot of people moving into Miami recently. You know, there's been some spike on sales for homes, and this is why we connect both of us, you know, super luxury group with Vida jets. Some of the things that we wanted to kind of discuss today is how this type of collaboration is what's really allowing that bridge to be created these days.
Because a lot of people from New York has been reaching out to us saying, hey, I would love to go to Miami. I would love to stay at one of your properties, just to test it out, you know, the type of lifestyle. Regardless of what's going on, people are seeing the benefits of moving down to Miami. It could be for the tax purposes, but also for the quality of life, you know.
People are thinking New York in a few months, it's going to be so cold. And now with like everything dining outside, they're going to be like so cold. So you are coming into place by allowing this type of customers, because we're talking about affluent people to take that private yet, flying to Miami, stay here for a couple of weeks, experience the taste of staying at one of those homes, see how you like it. And if you like it, the type of lifestyle here, then they invest in the property and you are becoming the bridge, which is the most important thing to make that happen.
Of course. And I think it really ties in very well where the method of travel is going to be private, just because at the end of the day, if you do have that disposable income, and you are probably not that affluent or you don't consider yourself an affluent person, but you do have that disposable income, now I can see it. And this is another trend. I can see new private jet flyers, because they don't care to spend a little bit more in the private side, they'll spend them on the private side, and then they'll come to these properties, especially in Miami, because we never shut down.
There is a curfew, but you still enjoy the weather, you still can get a private yacht, you still can get the luxury house. And then if you really want to make it the safest way, it's flying private. So yeah, like they're coming from from New York, they're coming from the few people that can actually leave some South American countries, they're coming here. People, Europeans are always coming here.
So here's a great, it's a main hub. And I think that by doing it, the way we're doing it, which I'm sure like Vida Jaz prior to every single flight, we disinfect the plane, we make sure that the pilots are constantly taking call the test. So they're so they're active to fly. I'm sure you do the same thing.
What do you do with the houses? Same thing. And this is why we keep aligned the kind of procedure from the beginning to the end. So from people leaving, let's say New York, with your kind of regulations placed into the plane, as will they arrive, the transportation all the way to the properties, and then the procedures that are taking place in the properties are kind of in the same kind of standards, you know, where everything is less infected prior, we make sure that everything and everybody that is stepping into the house have been tested.
And you know, we're just adapting to the new norm because this is not going away anytime soon. We just need to make sure that people feel comfortable with the situation, because that's at the end of the day, the quality of life. If you're comfortable with the decisions that you're making, because everything around you is been taking care of, then you're good. And this is what we're trying to bring into place.
Of course. And like you said, it's not, it's not the norm. It's not, it's going to be the new norm. For example, American Airlines just fired night, it's going to cut down 19,000 jobs.
What's going to happen? This is, this is just one airline, right? So what's going to happen with a commercial side is, is going to shut starting October and it's going to, they're going to, they're seeing a huge decline of commercial. So the people that were planning to fly commercial, are either not going to fly, or they're going to take a private private jet.
Now, they want to say, you know, the probably the hotels, there's a lot of beautiful hotels, but they want to say a nice luxury villa, right? That's what I'm thinking. Yeah, correct. So when they see this, we're not going like, Vita jets, we're not going for volume.
We're not that type of company. We like to have that white glove service. And that's why we partner with Super Luxury Group, because we know you do the same type of service. I've seen it.
I did a presence of your crazy experiences. We like to do that in the air, but we can't do it. Right. Yeah.
When you do the nice dinners, you bring them to the dancers, you do the whole thing. It's crazy. People want to see that. Now, by the way, clothes are going to be closed, right?
You're not going to want to go to a bar with like a whole bunch of people. You want to go to the luxury villa, have you guess, have that experience. And then when you're ready to go, hop in the top of the chopper, hop in the private jet, take off. Exactly.
And this is what we're experiencing. And we're seeing, you know, people at that level, don't want to slow down. They want things around them to be presented in a way that experience is still out there. It's still with quality, it's still secured.
And as you mentioned, right now, it's how to take yourself from point A to point B with the max security, with the max comfort, and the max top experience. And this is where private jets take place, because they take you from that point to the next, and then you experience everything at the villa. We do kind of the same concept where we're bringing everything towards the homes, you know, it's going to get again to the point where people are starting to experience, you know, the restaurants and the nightlife the same way with the new norm. But until then, we need to adapt.
And who knows what's going to happen next? So we're here to kind of work together to keep that synergy going from beginning to end. And I love that. So I would like to ask you something, right?
Because I have stories for days. I mean, the things that have been going on these last few months, we are smiling because we are positive people. I mean, we know the craziness that's been going on. And it's a really sad situation for many.
We're blessed, and I'm very grateful for our partnership and greater for our, you know, opportunities are rising, our health. So besides saying that, we also have our moments, you know, like us, we have certain difficulties with certain clients where because of the situation, we had to adapt. So I can go over my stories, but I want to learn yours. Like what's something that has happened recently that you like to share like, wow, this is something that happened incredible.
This is how we adapted. This is the the key lesson for the future. Okay, okay. Well, you know, there's always, there's always the weather conditions, which, you know, happened all the time.
Then we have the mechanical side, which machines, their machines, they break. So now we need to get, you know, back up planes. But when everything's aligned, all the stars are in place, the sun, the moon, and Jupiter. What do I mean by that is we have the whole operation intact.
And there was one of the crew members who like literally freaked out, you know, they freaked out. They said, you know, I'm not flying. I'm not going from Europe to the States, because they end up like prior to the flight, right? So we're having a panic attack from the crew members.
And please, no, we don't even control the crew members. We make sure they're vetted. They have the right amount of hours to perform the trip. And then we have all the other things, which in the catering, ground transportation, and everything together for the for the whole operation.
So this was right at the beginning of when everything was starting. So there's not a lot of information. We don't know what really, what are the symptoms? We don't know how like, what's going to happen?
They didn't know. It's people that are blind. And I consider myself at that moment as well, why? But we have a transatlantic flight.
And our clients were ready to hop on the plane and crew panicked. Thank God everything. We knew how to manage this situation. It was it was actually a crew from Spain.
So I'm in the language, my I'm Colombia myself. And my partner is also Colombian. She got on the phone, started speaking to the crew. And we handle the situation.
I think again, with white glove. I don't know. And I don't want to say another company wouldn't have done it. But I'm just saying that the fact that we speak Spanish at that moment helped us huge immensely.
And we made everything happen. This is one story that, you know, it's a little bit different than the others that we tend to have a lot of problems. And when we do, we take care of them immediately. But this was very particular because it was right before the fight.
And I think we managed it. Like this is amazing because what you said at the beginning, it's really what falls into. It's about having the right processes when you have the right processes and you're working with the right people, everything that like. But I just like to ask these type of questions because everybody's also intrigued in the luxury world where everything seems so shiny and so nice.
What are some of the things behind the scenes that happened, you know, because yeah, yeah, like the the the client never knew what happened. This is the kind of back end stories back to the house stuff. Right, right. They have all day long.
They happen all day long. It's just that people don't see that. And we don't want to even know like, okay, client wants to enjoy. That's it.
We don't want to have them feel that stress. Imagine like catering, catering perfect. The bed was ready because it was a long flight. So everything was perfect.
Just the crew freaked up. Now I like, you got to take you got to take action. You got to handle the situation. And I think we did a great job.
Not every company I would say and I like to, you know, brag about this because we spoke to the crew. We put ourselves in their shoes. They put us out in our shoes. We made things happen.
And that's how I think everything flows with a great and beautiful communication that we we had at that moment. Amazing. No, thanks for sharing that story Camilo. I don't want to share it with you because I don't want people to think, oh my god, all the crews are freaking out.
No, it was just that one time. And I can say here in front of everyone that we've been working together for a while and we never experienced any issues. In fact, it's been always such a pleasant experience. Not just for the client, but also for us, you know, it's been always beautiful.
So, you know, just quick stories, you know, just to make sure that we are showing that human side that is always perfect in this world. And again, they have your information if they want to reach out. I believe that you've been a great inspiration for many also bringing some great points about the current trends and how Super Luxury Group and Vida gets like the high properties and the private aviation connects so nicely to ensure that we keep everything flowing these days. So I think and I want to just mention one point that you said is like these people, they don't stop and they don't want to stop.
So they have great, great options with Vida chats with super luxury group. And I think that, you know, just having those two companies, I can grant as partners, they can, they can just keep their life like this, this going 100%, couldn't agree more Camilo. But again, it's been a pleasure having you here. We'll be in touch.
Kind of wait to see you Miami and get some things moving. But you're gonna take a lot to be here. I hope you enjoy Europe. I hope you enjoy both of me, Carlos.
The whole night. I wish I can join you. But for now, I think I'm gonna hold the fort here and we'll see you when I see you. Sounds good Camilo.
Thanks again for joining us and I can't wait to see you. Bye bye. Thank you all, bro. Take care.
Oh, you got here. Like what three of you to go into the private aviation? So why don't we take a few minutes to get also a little bit more into your background? I love to share that with you.
So, you know, the first thing that people ask me is are you a pilot? And I'm not a pilot. I was going to be a pilot. And then my love for business was was so big that I decided to go into the business side thinking I was gonna, I wasn't gonna be locked up to a schedule like a pilot, but I think I worked more hours than any pilot does.
So there's no duty time for Camilo. There's duty time for pilots. pilots can only work certain amount of hours. I have to work as many hours as we have to to make sure that the clients, the VAB clients are always taking care of.
So when I started, I started doing an internship back in Lynn University here in Bogorzo and I graduated from Lynn, former Lynn 11. There we go. There we go. And then I started working for another company down in Miami.
So I traveled three times a week. And you know, just to make the story short, I saw a vision that, you know, social media back in the day was going to be the, like where we had to focus or efforts. And they didn't really, there were very old school, I would say, and great people, they taught me everything. But at the end of the day, their vision was, you know, just be limited to certain things.
My vision was completely different. It was really showcasing the private aviation world to the world. And by this was having the, having really documenting every day wasn't creating. Like I don't consider myself a creator.
I just consider myself the company that documents what happens in this luxury world, which is the private aviation world. And by doing that step by step on a daily basis from 2012 till today, we have, we have, I'm very proud of what VDAJAS has done. And what we have done with continuing always keeping the level of service always to high standards. That's what we're called VDAJAS world class altitudes, because it's, it's, it's in our DNA.
We want to always have that world class altitudes, huge tons of stories, man. I have crazy stories for you for, for you. But, but yeah, it was pretty much focused initially. It was, it was social media and what you can see, like on the private jet side, VDAJAS, for example, you know, we have following like Tony Robbins, Cristiano Ronaldo follows us.
We have huge celebrities that follow us. And it's because we do the right thing at the right time and we bring in the content that people want to see and people understand what private aviation is. So that's a little bit of a good story. I love it.
There's one thing that you mentioned there that is key to everything that you've built so successfully, the DNA, because DNA matches, you know, we have some of like similar DNA about the world class service excellence, the connections that beautiful success, you know, we want to always be connecting that type of DNA with the different individuals. And that's where we stand, you know, I like to always in the morning when I wake up, I say, Camille is already up too, you know, like we had a little bite two weeks up earlier, four, five a.m. No, but at the end of the day, it's about who you surround yourself with for both business and friendship. And I consider you myself a good friend, also a great partner.
And I believe that whatever you guys are doing is going to be, as you mentioned, taken off even higher, because this is right now one of the necessities for that type of circle. I'm very proud that you're doing such an amazing job. And I'm also very happy that you join us today because I believe that this brings a lot of insight for the people to get to know the human side of the business, to also put a face on somebody that is so recognizable in the private aviation industry. And, you know, to answer any questions like how you actually got there, which in this case, a lot of people think that it's because you are a pilot and then so many routes, many routes.
So with that being said, is there anything that you want to close it up with to keep people like where they can find you, how they can reach out to you? Yeah, of course. So the easiest way is obviously going through the beta chats account, you can always send us a DM, send us a WhatsApp message, go to our website, we're always there. Don't think that because it's beta chats, you can messages like please set, feel free to send a message, don't be a stranger, we're always here to help people that, maybe they just want to know about private aviation, like I said, we're here to be a source, we're not here to always try to get a cell from you or pitch you rate services.
I think that's already said that's already given, the market has been proven by what beta jets does. And I think that just allowing myself to be a source for you guys, it's what I want to do. So feel free to reach out to us anytime, anytime. We're here to help.
I think exactly what you just said, where we don't really like to do many partnerships, I can count with one hand the type of partnerships that we have. And it's what we're very serious about our business and the level of service that we provide. So it's always great to have you and to be in communication with you. And obviously, thank you for the invite because it's a true honor to be in your lives.