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

Fractional light jet operator Volato has released its first key performance indicator (KPI) report, which demonstrates the growth of the company over the past two years. From the first quarter of 2022 through the last quarter of 2023, Volato’s fleet flight hours have grown from 813 to more than 3,500 per quarter.
In addition, during that span the HondaJet operator’s share of the light jet passenger flying market has risen from 0.7 percent to 2.9 percent. Over the past year, the company has also conducted internal post-flight customer satisfaction surveys with its quarterly net promoter scores totaling 86 and above.
“In 2023 alone, Volato expanded its HondaJet fleet by <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2023-12-28/volato-expands-hondajet-fleet-50-percent-24-aircraft">50 percent</a> and increased its light jet market share to nearly 3 percent,” said Mark Heinen, the company’s CFO. “Even with this growth, we maintained our emphasis on providing high-quality customer experiences.”
Last month, the company <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2023-12-04/after-spac-merger-fractional-jet-provider-volato-goes">went public</a> after a SPAC merger that boosted its investment capital. “As a newly public company within a rapidly growing industry, we believe transparency is imperative,” Heinen added. “By providing stakeholders with clear insights into utilization and customer engagement metrics, we are further aligning transparency standards in the private aviation sector with those found in the commercial airline industry.”
Going forward, Volato said it will provide updated KPI information on a quarterly basis.

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KPI Statistics Demonstrate Volato's Growth

HondaJet operator has more than tripled its market share

Fractional light jet operator Volato has released its first key performance indicator report demonstrating the growth of the company over the past two years. 

Volato Statistics Demonstrate Company Growth

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