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

Global flight training provider CAE has opened its Vienna facility, marking the company's first business aviation training center in Central Europe. The facility—which opened last month and complements the UK CAE location at Burgess Hill—received its first customer.
“We are very excited to welcome Alexander Vagacs, chairman of Avcon Jet, as our first customer at CAE Vienna,” said Alexandre Prévost, CAE’s division president for business aviation. “Alexander has trained with us for 25 years, and since founding Avcon in 2007, we are proud to say he has entrusted the training of his pilots to CAE.”
The 8,000-sq-ft Vienna facility—like all CAE training centers—offers classroom and simulator instruction for established pilots to earn their type ratings and complete their recurrent training to satisfy their respective authorities.
It has a Gulfstream G550 full flight simulator in operation. Plans call for the location to offer up to nine simulators, including Europe’s first Bombardier Global 7500, which will enter service next month, followed by full flight simulators for the Vision cockpit on legacy Globals and Embraer Phenoms in the third quarter, and a Bombardier Challenger in October. They will be joined by a Pilatus PC-24 simulator in the second half of 2026.
“We are very pleased that our first business aviation training center in Central Europe is now open and offers customers an elevated training experience in a state-of-the-art facility,” Prévost said. “This will be a very exciting year as new full flight simulators enter service and we begin to welcome more customers to CAE Vienna.”

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

CAE Welcomed First Customer To New Vienna Training Center

The facility will be officially inaugurated later this year

CAE's latest training center is now open in Vienna.

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2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

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.

Multiple 18- to 25-year-olds compete for 15 places on an internship program 

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Hanneke Weitering

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

Public college to offer electric aviation credentials through hands-on training

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Jessica Reed

Doug Rock is the 1,000th aviation professional to receive NBAA's Certified Aviation Managera designation

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Matt Thurber

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Lower-cost but more sophisticated hardware is a theme for this year’s show

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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.

Enables assessment of how students scan, process, and respond in a dynamic environment

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Plans call for the airline to purchase virtual reality simulators for pilot training

Alaska Airlines Venture Fund Invests in Loft Dynamics 

Amy Wilder

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

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.

EBACE Convention News 2025

More In Training and Workforce

Next-generation Charter Pros Flock to ACA Internships

Multiple 18- to 25-year-olds compete for 15 places on an internship program

Beta Sells Electric Airplane and Simulator to Sinclair Community College

Public college to offer electric aviation credentials through hands-on training

NBAA’s CAM Program Reaches 1,000th Certification

Doug Rock is the 1,000th aviation professional to receive NBAA's Certified Aviation Managera designation

Sixth FlightSimExpo To Step Up Simulation Reality

Lower-cost but more sophisticated hardware is a theme for this year’s show

CAE Demos Eye-tracking for ATC Controller Training

Enables assessment of how students scan, process, and respond in a dynamic environment

Alaska Airlines Venture Fund Invests in Loft Dynamics

Plans call for the airline to purchase virtual reality simulators for pilot training

Tariff Relief Shields Hundreds of Piper Aircraft Jobs

Haridopolos wins relief for aircraft manufacturer

Affinity, SMS Aero Launch UK Training Collaboration

Immersive, practical training programs are designed to improve safety

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