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 aviation in May saw a slight increase over the 2018 year-over-year period,&nbsp;according to statistics released by Argus International in its latest TRAQPak aircraft activity report. North American (U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean) flights bumped over 270,000 for the month, the first time it had reached that peak since 2008, just prior to the global economic downturn.

 


For the month, fractional light and midsize jet usage saw increases of 4.9 percent and 14.1 percent respectively. While large-cabin fractional activity experienced a decline of 14.6 percent, the large-cabin segment, overall, saw a 1.5 percent increase, good for a 1.1 percent improvement in business aircraft usage, year-over-year. Overall, midsize jet activity rose 3.4 percent over May 2018’s numbers, while light-jet usage dropped by 1.1 percent.

 


Compared with&nbsp;the previous month, May saw a 3.4 percent increase in overall activity&nbsp;led by the turboprop segment which had a 7.4 percent improvement. Fractional turboprops experienced a 23 percent boost month-over-month.

 


The Denver-based company predicts flight activity to increase through June, with a nearly two-percent boost over June 2018 totals.

Argus Sees Increase in Flight Activity

Boosts in small and midsize fractional activity pushed the segment to a 7.3 percent increase over the previous May.

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