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

Business aircraft broker&nbsp;Guardian Jet is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the launch of its Vault 4.0 client portal. The online aviation asset management data platform, which was originally designed for the company’s employees, has undergone several upgrades since its launch a decade ago and has now become a vital educational resource for Guardian’s customers as well.

 


Among the latest improvements are a technical library that allows users to gauge estimated costs for inspection schedules, maintenance programs, avionics upgrades, connectivity systems, interior refurbishments, service bulletins, and more for more than 130 business aircraft models. A knowledge center allows users to research topics related to the evaluation, acquisition, operation, and disposal of aircraft.

 


Additionally, the Vault's performance library helps users evaluate the capabilities of each aircraft type and their ability to meet mission parameters. While not intended to replace the counsel of a dedicated aviation attorney, the portal's&nbsp;legal library&nbsp;can also help users understand legal procedures, regulations, documents, and terms that apply to aircraft ownership and trades.

 


“We’ve always had this desire to be transparent to our customers, and with people that pay us to transact their aircraft we really wanted to give them more information,” said managing partner Don Dwyer. “We were collecting it anyway, and now making it available is just pretty exciting.&nbsp;I think it’s the next step.”

 


Those new features complement the Vault’s existing functionality, which centers around business aircraft pricing and value, asset management, and transaction monitoring.

 


This week at NBAA-BACE 2022,&nbsp;the Guilford, Connecticut-based company (Static AD_504)&nbsp;is offering in-person demonstrations of Vault 4.0's capabilities. On its way to a record year of well more than 100 transactions, Guardian Jet has also brought a Gulfstream G550 to its exhibit.

 


“We are saying that certainly through the end of the year with bonus depreciation, and with the normal flurry of activity at the end of the year, we’re seeing very strong activity,” Dwyer told AIN. “We have multiple buyers for every good pedigree airplane. It’s still an exciting time in the business.”

Aircraft Broker Guardian Jet Improves Vault Client Portal

Aircraft brokerage Guardian Jet has released the latest version of its Vault customer information portal at NBAA-BACE on its 20th anniverary.

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NBAA-BACE 2022

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