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

FAA Part 145 repair station DAS Aviation—with facilities in Cedar Hill, Texas; Solon, Ohio; and Collinsville, Illinois—has acquired Addison, Texas-based <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-05-07/dallas-area-maintenance-provider-expands">Aerospace Quality Research and Development</a> (AQRD). The deal creates a single, integrated off-wing services platform that includes engineering, component repair, composites, and parts supply.
Earlier this year, DAS <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2025-06-02/jet-parts-das-aviation-merger-improve-efficiency">merged</a> with Jet Parts in a transaction that connected the former’s overhaul and repair capabilities with the latter’s parts inventory service.
The purchase of AQRD—which is located at Addison Airport (KADS)—gives the company’s customers a faster path to aircraft return-to-service through technician-focused engineering, immediate execution, parts availability, and a stronger AOG response.
“I’m excited because this partnership allows us to do more of what we do best: innovate,” said AQRD founder and CEO Raj Narayanan. “With DAS Aviation’s reach and resources, we can scale our engineering coverage, broaden repair capabilities, and accelerate response, while also advancing our engineering composite repair development capabilities.”
DAS noted that there will be no change to existing points of contact with the two companies now under the same banner.
“AQRD’s engineering depth, paired with our repair capacity and parts inventory, eliminates the delays of juggling multiple vendors,” said DAS v-p Dan Podojil. “One partner now owns the engineering, the repair, and the parts, delivered with speed and accountability, setting a new bar for turnaround time, quality, and AOG support.”

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

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