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

Cessna reached a new labor agreement with the union representing nearly 6,000 of its workers. The Textron subsidiary concluded the three-year contract settlement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers after a lengthy and often contentious bargaining process. “Cessna is the leader in the aviation industry and we certainly feel this was an industry-leading contract,” said Bob Wood, a union spokesman.
Health care was a primary sticking point in the most recent negotiations, just as it was in the last round in 2004. This time, Cessna proposed to replace a choice of three worker health plans with a single offering that carried high deductibles. That proposal is not included in the final contract, which was ratified by 63 percent of the rank and file and calls for wage hikes of 5 percent over the first year, and 4 percent for each of the remaining two years. The deal also calls for a $3,000 lump-sum bonus and an increase in the pension from $49 per month per year of service to $55.
This new agreement heads off a strike threatened in September, and company officials are breathing a sigh of relief, given the Wichita-based airframer’s $11 billion backlog. “With this agreement, we can continue to focus attention on designing, producing and supporting Cessna aircraft,” said a company spokesman.

Cessna workers agree to new deal

Cessna reached a new labor agreement with the union representing nearly 6,000 of its workers.

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