A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Qatar Airways has announced that 90 percent of its flights are departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure, despite the presence of an overflight blockade imposed on Qatar by a group of neighboring Persian Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. Those countries, along with Libya and Yemen, severed diplomatic ties with Qatar earlier this month over its alleged ties to Iran and terrorism.

 


“Qatar Airways’ global operations continue to run smoothly, with the vast majority of our network unaffected by the current circumstances,” said airline president Akbar Al Baker. “Our focus is on supporting any passengers impacted by the current situation and ensuring that we continue to deliver our award-winning service. As far as we are concerned it is business as usual.”

 


In light of the blockade, Qatar has significantly bolstered its global call center operations and social media engagement to ensure its customers are well informed, and has made changes to its ticketing policies to provide passengers with greater flexibility for refunds and rebooking for flights that are affected by the travel bans. The airline has also introduced new functionality on Facebook to provide call-back options.

 


As for the legality of the blockade, which has caused the carrier to institute extensive flight rerouting, Al Akbar noted his airline is not a political body and calls the action unprecedented. “It is in direct contradiction to the convention that guarantees rights to civil overflight,” he stated. “We call upon the International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO] to declare this an illegal act.”

 


Earlier this week, the airline released its annual report for Fiscal Year 2017 showing a net profit of $541 million, which equates to a more-than 20 percent increase year-over-year, along with an annual revenue increase of 10.4 percent.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Despite Overflight Bans, Qatar Airways Carries On

With tensions simmering between Qatar and its Middle East neighbors, the award-winning airline says its schedule has not been severly impacted.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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Duffy served in Congress from 2011 to 2019

Former Rep. Duffy Selected for Transportation Secretary

AmyWilder

Operators push for simpler fatigue-management rules

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Thune formerly chaired the Commerce Committee and is well versed in aviation issues

Thune Move to Senate Majority Leader Draws Bizav Praise

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Report identifies vulnerabilities in labor, materials, and infrastructure

Task Force Details Aerospace Supply-chain Weaknesses

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Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

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