Founded

1983

Headquarters

Kennesaw, Georgia

Key People

Ralph Sohl, president and CEO

Number of Employees

127

Phone Number

(770) 590-4950

Website

Old Republic Aerospace

Old Republic Aerospace

Old Republic Aerospace (known as Phoenix Aviation Managers until 2015) provides aircraft and product liability, workers’ compensation, and physical damage coverage for business and commercial aviation, airlines, airports, and manufacturers. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago-based Old Republic International Corporation, one of the 50 largest publicly held insurers in the U.S. 

Old Republic Aerospace founded Phoenix Aviation Managers in 1983 as its exclusive aviation underwriting unit. Active pilot and airplane owner William McGloin became the company’s first president, overseeing locations in Dallas and Atlanta (Kennesaw). Initially, the company’s focus was underwriting general and business aircraft hull and liability, plus insurance for FBOs. In 1996 the company introduced a workers’ compensation line, which grew into the National Business Aviation Association Workers’ Compensation Program in 2009.    

Under McGloin’s leadership, Phoenix Aviation Managers introduced several lines of business around the turn of the millennium, including insurance for airports and government entities in 1997, agricultural operations in 1998, and corporate aviation in 2003. It opened its first branch office in Seattle in 2005.

In 2009 the company added a pay-by-the-hour program through myFBO.com for flight schools, aircraft rental operators, charter operators, flying clubs, aerial mapping and survey, and other qualifying commercial aviation operators. That year the company also opened its second branch office, this one in Chicago. A third branch office opened in 2011 in New York City.

When McGloin left the company in 2011, Ralph Sohl, was promoted to president and chief operating officer. Sohl, a commercial multi-engine pilot who had joined Phoenix Aviation Managers as a senior vice president and corporate aviation product line manager in 2003, had been promoted to executive vice president and chief underwriting officer in 2009. In 2014 he was appointed president and CEO. 

Under Sohl’s leadership, the company continued to expand its business offerings, adding a non-critical product liability products line in 2013, airline coverage in 2014, major manufacturer liability in 2016, and unmanned aviation systems (UAS) insurance in 2018. In 2020 the company partnered with InsurTech and Agency Precision Autonomy to expand its commercial drone insurance offerings.