Page 6 - Nov 2015 Volume 9, Number 11
P. 6

The fleet of Air Caraïbes aircraft at the start of the business.
A Career Worth Writing About
Hayot has lived his entire life in the French Islands of the Caribbean except for short stints in Miami, where he obtained his U.S. pilot’s license, and France, where he received his European pilot certificate. “I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a pilot, so as soon as I was through school, I went and got my licenses,” he said. When he came back, Hayot settled on the island of Guadaloupe and started flying as a commercial pilot.
Hayot said when he was starting out as a pilot in the early 1970s, he flew DC-3s and had many adventures. So many, in fact, that he wrote a book that is currently a top seller in France. He plans to have it translated to English and sell it in the U.S. within the next year. The book’s title, “Tower, we’ve got a bull in the cockpit!” Hayot said, is very representative of what’s inside. “All the stories narrated in the book are true, and many photos are included, because otherwise nobody would believe it really happened,” he said. “It was a different time back then, with a lot less rules! It wasn’t uncommon to have large animals as passengers.”
Later, Hayot decided to launch an airline where he saw the need. In all, he began three airlines: Guadaloupe Air Cargo, which used DC-3s; Air Calypso that flew between the islands using Short 360-300s; and Air Caraïbes,
Hayot has written a book, currently a best seller in France, about his adventures flying DC-3s in his early days of being a pilot and he hopes to bring a translated version to the U.S.
which operated many types of aircraft, including Dornier DO 228s, Cessna 208 Caravans, Cessna Citations, and King Air 90s and 200s. This array of aircraft was used for shuttles between islands, air ambulance services and travel to France. Hayot later sold Air Caraïbes, which is still in operation today and is the main operator between France and the French Islands of the Caribbean.
Business, Personal, and Special Mission Operations
Hayot purchased his 1978 C90 from his close friend, Patrick Jean, in 2010. The aircraft was previously operated in France as a charter plane, and Jean bought it in 1996 to use for his business in Guadaloupe. Jean’s company, Omi-Fly, manufactured lenses for vision glasses and the King Air was operated to deliver its production throughout the Caribbean. “Since Patrick and I are close friends, I have been flying the C90 since he bought it and have flown the most hours on the aircraft than anyone else – 900 hours of my total 2,500 hours in King Airs,” Hayot explained. “When Patrick retired, I bought the aircraft from him.”
The King Air C90 is now flown by Hayot about 150 hours a year for personal use, as well as business. After he sold Air Caraïbes, he said he needed a new passion, so he launched his own brand of energy drink called 
The infamous runway at St. Barth’s that Hayot says is a “piece of cake” to land on in his C90.
4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 2015


































































































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