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

Newly-released analysis from Ascend by Cirium shows that market values for many business jets have increased perhaps unsustainably during the post-pandemic period on a constant age basis (comparing the same age of aircraft over time).
While the preowned business jet inventory increased in the second half of 2022, pricing for completed transactions continued to rise&nbsp;and “buyer distress” transactions—where customers were willing to pay higher prices, above the asking price in some competitive situations—continued throughout the year.
According to Ascend&nbsp;senior appraiser and&nbsp;principal aviation analyst&nbsp;Syed Zaidi, business jet&nbsp;values soared&nbsp;due to various factors, including the surge of new users into the market since the pandemic began. This includes&nbsp;a 60 percent rise in midsize jet values from a year ago&nbsp;and approximately 45 percent higher for very light and super-midsize jets. Long-range jets values increased by 20 percent year-over-year.
Zaidi warned that market values may have entered “bubble” territory and constitute a real risk to owners, financiers, and investors, as the market-to-base value ratios which his company uses as a measure of potential risk, are “significantly” above 100 percent across most aircraft segments. He added that as the airlines continue to repair their schedules to pre-pandemic frequencies, the staying power of those new users will prove a true test for the business aviation industry.

Market Analyst Warns of Possible Bizjet Bubble

Recent analysis by Ascend by Cirium shows a superheated business jet pricing market which could be headed for a correction.

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