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

Aviation industry leader Kenn Ricci will be the featured keynote speaker at the opening session of this year’s NBAA Schedulers &amp; Dispatchers Conference, which will take place in Cleveland from March 24 to 26.
Best known as the chairman of global fractional fleet operator Flexjet, Ricci launched his first aviation business 45 years ago, and today he owns and manages more than 12 companies covering virtually the entire industry, including aircraft charter, management, maintenance, engineering, brokerage, and sustainability.
Ricci’s passion for aviation started as a pilot with an ATP type rating, and he has amassed more than 6,000 flight hours, including serving as then-Gov. Bill Clinton’s pilot during the 1992 presidential campaign.&nbsp;He also sits on the board of trustees for the University of Notre Dame (his alma mater), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Among his honors was being inducted as a Living Legend of Aviation, as well as receiving that group’s Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award, which has since been named after him. Ricci is also a recipient of Harvard Business School’s Dively Entrepreneurship Award and NATA’s highest honor, the William “Bill” Ong Memorial Award.
“Kenn Ricci has spent his entire career shaping the future of business aviation, creating innovative pathways that bring people, technology, and opportunity together,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “He is a true leader and visionary in our industry, and we look forward to hearing his perspectives at what promises to be an inspiring and forward-thinking edition of our Schedulers &amp; Dispatchers Conference.”

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

Kenn Ricci To Give NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference Keynote 

Ricci owns and operates more than a dozen aviation businesses

Aviation industry leader Kenn Ricci to deliver keynote address at this year’s NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference.

Flexjet’s Ricci Tapped for NBAA SDC Keynote Address

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

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