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

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (KMSP) received its first shipment of locally produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) this week, which will be used to power a Delta Air Lines flight tomorrow as the ceremonial first SAF flight to depart the state.
The blended fuel—with its SAF component produced from locally grown winter camelina, a low-carbon-intensity oilseed crop—demonstrated the regional capabilities of biofuel production as championed by the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2024-09-10/minnesota-saf-coalition-notes-progress">Minnesota SAF Hub</a>.
Farmers in Minnesota and North Dakota planted 2,000 acres of winter camelina, a variety developed by the University of Minnesota. After this summer’s harvest, the seed crop was crushed and processed at Cargill’s facility in Fargo, North Dakota, and then moved to the Montana Renewables plant in Great Falls, where it was refined and blended into SAF. The fuel was then sold to Delta Air Lines—which operates a major hub at KMSP—and transported directly to the airport’s fueling facility.
“The fact that this first flight is fueled with SAF made from camelina, an innovative regenerative agricultural crop grown in Minnesota, is a breakthrough far beyond what we thought possible just six months ago,” said Peter Frosch, president and CEO of the Greater MSP partnership. “This first batch of SAF is a demonstration of how we plan to decarbonize air travel and improve water quality on agricultural lands while providing new income sources for farmers in and around Minnesota.”

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

Minnesota Flight To Fly on Locally Grown and Produced SAF

Delta flight will highlight the region's SAF production chain

Minnesota's first flight fueled by sustainable aviation fuel is scheduled for takeoff this week, showing off the potential of the region's SAF production chain.

Minnesota Flight To Fly on Locally Grown SAF

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

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.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Manufacturer says solar power is part of efforts to reduce environmental footprint 

Solar Panels Now Power Gulfstream’s Mesa Service Center

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

Green Flyways initiative is considering the potential for MD Aircraft's eViator commuter

Partners Trial Electric Air Services in Norway and Sweden

Charlotte Bailey

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

UK’s ‘Operation Blue Skies’ to redirect commercial traffic in Shanwick airspace

North Atlantic Airspace-Scale Contrail Trial Underway

Emissions reduction indexes will help contrast economics with compliance mandates

Argus Releases Sustainable Aviation Fuel Evaluation Tool

Government-funded consortium to aims to connect remote communities 

Project SEAN Trials Electric Flights For Scotland

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Shift could come as the state's tax incentives change

Louisiana Could Supplant California as SAF Leader

New three-year campaign will design, build, and fly wing extension devices

WoT? Experimental Elongated Airbus Wings To Fly Next Year

Cristofer Slotoroff

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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