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

Million Air Dallas, one of the largest aircraft charter and management providers in Texas, has received formal FAA approval for its safety management system (SMS). This places the Million Air chain franchisee among the approximately 1 percent of all U.S. Part 135 operators that have achieved the agency’s&nbsp;acceptance and recognition of full compliance or "active conformance"&nbsp;with its Safety Management System Voluntary Program Standard (SMSVP).

 


The company (Booth 2945) began its involvement with the program in 2018. It follows the same guidelines that are required of Part 121 commercial airline operators regarding implementation, validation, and standards.

 


“Million Air Dallas’s commitment to safety ensures the welfare of our passengers, crew, and ground support employees in every aspect of our operation,” said Don Rickerhauser, the company’s v-p of operations. “We always look beyond the standard procedures and protocol, always perform to the highest level of safety, and utilize the most sophisticated safety tools available to our industry. Completing the pathway to recognized Active Conformance status with the FAA SMSVP Standard is our way of ensuring that commitment.”

 


Company president and CEO Bob Schmidt added, “This may be the end of demonstrating and testing our [SMS], but it is just the beginning of an evolution to the next level of safety for Million Air Dallas and the private jet transportation industry.”

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Million Air Dallas has received formal FAA approval for its safety management system, under the agency's Safety System Voluntary Program Standard.

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