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

Gulfstream has become the first company to receive the National Aeronautic Association’s (NAA) “Sustainable Wings” certification. It earned this certification&nbsp;for its record-setting round trip from its Savannah, Georgia headquarters to San Francisco on July 24 using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The flight in a G500 flown by the airframer’s demonstration team reached San Francisco in four hours and 17 minutes at an average speed of 548.8&nbsp;mph, while the return leg took a minute longer.

 


The certification recognizes records that are set using SAF, which is a drop-in replacement for standard jet-A and provides lifetime CO2 emissions reductions over fossil fuels. Operators of record-setting flights achieved using fuel that meets the ASTM international standards for SAF can apply under the Sustainable Wings program, and a special seal will be added to NAA’s certificate of record for the flight.

 


Gulfstream president Mark Burns noted that the recognition will not only increase the visibility of SAF but highlight its ease of use as the industry works to increase renewable fuel availability around the globe.

 


“Aviation must become more sustainable and is becoming more sustainable,” said NAA president Greg Principato, adding he believes this new certification will further advance that. “As the official recordkeeper of American aviation for more than a century, it is incumbent on NAA to recognize this and to encourage the use of sustainable fuels and practices.”

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

Gulfstream Record Flight Earns First Sustainable Honors

Gulfstream is the first company to receive the National Aeronautic Association’s “Sustainable Wings” certification for an SAF-fueled record-setting flight.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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.

Studies show an outsized impact from the exhaust cloud trails

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

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.

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Charles Alcock

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

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.

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News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

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