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

Fractional aircraft provider Volato’s fleet flight hours grew by nearly 40% year over year, according to the company’s newly released first-quarter results.&nbsp;For the three-month period, revenues totaled $13.2 million, with aircraft usage accounting for $11.5 million of that amount and managed services making up the remainder. This was weighed against an adjusted EBITDA loss of $13.1 million.
The operator’s demand mix achieved a balance of 50% owner flights and 50% program and ad hoc usage, which according to Volato reflects strong demand and contributed to its blended yield. It also improved its empty flight percentage by more than 6% YOY, with Vaunt—its subscription platform that allows access to empty-leg private flights—achieving cash-positive status.
“While OEM aircraft delivery delays put pressure on our revenue in the quarter, we achieved strong year-over-year growth across our key metrics as we executed on our strategy to drive more favorable demand mix and higher yield per flight hour,” explained Volato CEO and co-founder Matt Liotta. “Given the well-known OEM supply chain challenges which have pushed back delivery dates, we continue to expect the delivery of eight to 10 HondaJets [and] two Gulfstream G280s in 2024. These deliveries, including the two to three HondaJets we are scheduled to receive in the second quarter, will provide us with an immediate cash benefit as we execute on our backlog of fractional sales.”
Looking toward the remainder of the year, the company’s outlook improves.
“Our aircraft deliveries in 2024 will provide additional cash as well as more capacity to grow our network, and better leverage our cost base,” added CFO Mark Heinen. “With an expected revenue of over $120 million this year from fractional sales alone, continued revenue growth from aircraft usage, and our cost-savings measures, we expect that we can achieve positive growth margin and EBITDA in the fourth quarter.”

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