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

Global flight support provider Universal Weather and Aviation (Booth 2611) along with its long-standing security partner FAM International (Booth 1925) have launched a new global ground transportation joint venture, Universal Private Transport.

 


The independent company will allow users to arrange VIP ground transport anywhere in the world, and since it’s tied to Universal’s trip support services, when a Universal customer makes a change to their schedule, the ground transport reservation changes as well.

 


“Every change in a trip creates a ripple effect, not just at your current destination but the next,” said FAM CEO Brian Leek, noting the typical chain of events that occurs when a passenger decides to depart earlier. “The scheduler calls the trip support provider, who calls the handler, who calls the transport provider to adjust the schedule at the current location and then the handler at the arrival airport. This introduces multiple points of failure and risk, as each vendor only sees their portion of the mission.”

 


“Schedule changes not communicated, late arrivals, the wrong size vehicle, uninformed drivers and bad information are all common ground transport risks that can adversely impact mission success,” added Greg Evans, Universal’s chairman. “Universal Private Transport was created to fulfill our clients’ request to help give them more control by bullet-proofing those issues and eliminating unnecessary risk and stress to their missions, such as a non-vetted vendor and unknown driver.”

 


According to managing director Chris Kim, the new transport company is operated by people who understand the challenges of business aviation. “We see the total scope of your mission, no matter how many destinations or legs, reducing the number of calls, vendors and risk of error.” Arrangements and changes can be made through a variety of methods including telephone, email, text message or online, ensuring 24-hour access.

Universal, FAM Give Customers a Ride

The two companies have launched a joint venture ground transport company, offering consistent, secure global capability.

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