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

Dassault Falcon Service is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Mérignac, France facility, which opened in 2016 next to the airframer’s main production plant with an initial focus on Falcon 7X and 8X maintenance. Since then, the six-bay facility and its 70 employees have managed 600 maintenance projects, including 66 major C-checks.
The facility has expanded its offerings to provide service for the Falcon 2000 EASy and 900 EASy families, as well as to accommodate major inspections for the 6X. It will also eventually service Dassault’s in-development Falcon 10X flagship.
DFS-Mérignac is equipped to handle structural repairs, which typically require engineering involvement, as well as EASy IV avionics upgrades and other STC solutions such as Starlink in-flight connectivity system installation. With local partners, it also offers cabin interior retrofits and other upgrades.&nbsp;
Along with its in-house work, the facility provides technical backup to Dassault’s worldwide network of 60 factory-owned and authorized service centers.
“Over the past decade, Mérignac has become an important part of our global support network, combining close access to Dassault engineering resources with the maintenance capabilities operators need,” said Jean Kayanakis, the senior v-p of Dassault’s worldwide Falcon customer service and service center network. “Its continued expansion reflects both the growth of the long-range Falcon fleet and our long-term commitment to supporting customers wherever they operate.”

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

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