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

Aircraft brokerage Hagerty Jet Group has seen stronger-than-expected transaction volume for preowned Gulfstream jets in the first quarter of the year. The Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream specialist observed higher transaction volumes in the past quarter than in the previous 12 months, particularly for the airframer’s G550. In the first quarter of the year, there were 16 sales of the long-range twinjet, nearly double the average of the past three years.

 


Hagerty also noted a spike in off-market aircraft transactions, as six of those 16 G550 sales were not publicly advertised, or were unknown by market participants. The company believes this is an indication that many buyers are frustrated by the lack of good available inventory and sought out direct purchasing opportunities with unlisted aircraft.

 


That could cause sellers on the market to adjust their pricing to move their aircraft. In its just-released Quarterly Market Update for Gulfstream aircraft, Hagerty expects prices to soften in the second quarter, based on the 14 price reductions seen in the first quarter on the G550, with an average decrease of 9 percent. It also anticipates a decrease in overall demand as global economic uncertainty lingers, led by fears of a 2020 recession, Brexit and U.S./China trade relations. As the impact of the so-called “Trump-Bump” from a year ago fades, Hagarty believes the industry is normalizing again.

Aircraft Broker Sees Gulfstream G550 Boost

Savannah-based Hagerty Jet Group noted higher than normal transactions in the first quarter of the year, ahead of a possible slump.

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