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

Business aircraft activity in the U.S. increased for the 10th straight month, climbing 3.9 percent last month versus a year ago, making it the busiest September for business aviation since the same month in 2008, according to data released today by aviation services company Argus. For this month, Argus estimates that flying will increase by 0.9 percent year-over-year.


Operational categories were positive across the board, led by Part 91 flying, which climbed 4.0 percent last month versus a year ago. Part 135 charter flight activity grew by 3.8 percent year-over-year, while fractional flying increased by 3.1 percent. Overall flight activity was positive for all aircraft categories, as well, including turboprops. The gain of 0.7 percent marked the first rise for the category since June. Once again, large-cabin jets led the way with a gain of 7.4 percent, with usage of light and midsize jets up 6.0 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. By individual segment, fractional light-jet flying logged the only double-digit year-over-year increase last month, at 20.7 percent more usage year-over year.


Argus TraqPak data provides “serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S. and Canada.”

Argus: Flight Activity Last Month Best Since 9/08

Last month was the busiest September for business aviation since 2008.

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