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

William (Bill) R. Cutter, patriarch of the Cutter Aviation family, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86, according to the company, which recently celebrated its 90th anniversary. A lifelong aviation enthusiast, he learned to fly as a boy, on the lap of his father, company founder William P. Cutter, and eventually went on to earn ATP-ratings in fixed-wing, helicopter,&nbsp;and lighter-than-air aircraft. He logged thousands of flight hours during his lifetime, most recently in his 1944 Beech Staggerwing.

 


Cutter later took over the family FBO, MRO,&nbsp;and aircraft sales business and established its flagship facility at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Along with his son Will, he enlarged the company network to four FBO locations and several maintenance/avionics facilities throughout the Southwest.

 


He served in the U.S. Army, and during his business career, he was honored by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the New Mexico Military Institute. Cutter further was inducted into the Pima Air and Space Museum’s Hall of Fame, and in 1994 was awarded the National Air Transportation Association's highest honor: the William A. "Bill" Ong Memborial Award. He is remembered for the time spent at the company’s facilities, engaging with every employee on a first name basis.

 


He is survived by his children Will and Kathryn, and four grandchildren. The company noted that memorial arrangements will be released at a later date.

Cutter Aviation Family Patriarch Passes

William R. Cutter, son of William P. Cutter, who founded the company, the oldest family-owned FBO chain, in 1928, passed away this week at the age of 86.

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