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

Following an <a href="https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/elected/executive/constantine/news/documents/PFC-7-1-EO_Signed.ashx?la=en">April 23 executive order</a> from Washington state’s King County executive Dow Constantine stating that Seattle King County International Airport/Boeing Field (BFI) "shall not support the transportation and deportation of immigration detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)," Modern Aviation, one of three FBOs on the field, said it will no longer service immigration flights operated by Swift Air. The company is believed to be the only charter provider used by ICE at the airport. According to the county, ground personnel at BFI have observed immigrant detainees boarding Swift aircraft.

 


The other FBOs at BFI—Kenmore Aero Services and Signature Flight Support—also indicated they will not contract with Swift Air for immigration flights at BFI.

 


Constantine’s executive order added that all future leases, operating permits and other authorizations for commercial activity at the airport contain a prohibition against providing aeronautical or non-aeronautical services to enterprises engaged in the business of deporting immigration detainees, with the exception of federal government aircraft.

 


“I was heartened to learn that [FBOs] at our airport have decided to accommodate the values of the people of King County,” said Constantine. “We are a welcoming community that respects the rights of all people. We do not want to see our publicly-owned airport used for the wholesale deportation of immigrant detainees.”

 


Swift had yet to answer AIN's inquiries at press time.

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