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.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

Traffic was snarled at several major Northeast U.S. airports yesterday afternoon due to “equipment outages” at the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center. As a result, the agency ordered ground stops at Newark Liberty International (KEWR), Philadelphia International (KPHL), John F. Kennedy International (KJFK), LaGuardia (KLGA), Teterboro (KTEB), and Westchester County airports.&nbsp;
According to reports, the primary communications line at the FAA’s Philadelphia facility failed earlier in the day. The outage was compounded by the accidental severing of a Verizon fiber-optic cable running parallel to the Amtrak rail line in New Jersey.
According to a statement from the communications provider, an NJ Transit contractor working in the area dug up and cut the cable. Verizon, which said its facilities were fully functional up to that point, immediately deployed technicians to restore service. The combined failures left controllers without radar or communications for hours.
All the ground stops were canceled by yesterday evening, but the damage was done to flight schedules. Resulting ground delays of up to five hours were in place at KEWR, while at nearby business aviation hub Teterboro Airport they spanned half that time.
“We saw the system come back, and we were in recovery mode for several hours, but by the end of the evening, we were pretty much back to normal,” said Heidi Williams, NBAA’s senior v-p of operations.

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

Construction Accident Cripples Northeast Air Traffic

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An accidentally severed fiber-optic cable in New Jersey interrupted air traffic control at several major Northeast airports yesterday.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Thousands of commercial airline flights were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday

Bizav Traffic Impacted by UK Air Traffic Control Failure 

Kerry Lynch

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

KDCA and KEWR receive SMR-4 installations, while IDIQ AT&T covers coms

FAA Installs Surface Radars at Key Airports and Awards $74.3M to AT&T

Hanneke Weitering

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

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.

Milestone covers the software that talks to air traffic control

Merlin Clears a Certification Hurdle for AI in the Cockpit

Charlotte Bailey

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

Honeywell-led consortium to consider advanced air mobility integration

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NASA controllers used existing tools to manage simulated autonomous traffic

Wisk Tests 1:3 Supervisor Ratio for Autonomous Flight

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News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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Thousands of commercial airline flights were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday

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