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

With the FAA’s mandatory ADS-B equipage deadline less than half a year away now, industry data provider and flight tracker FlightAware is reporting that the U.S.-registered, turbine-powered business aircraft fleet has achieved a 77 percent equipage rate. The numbers in its just-released June report show 13,352 of the jets and turboprops,&nbsp;out of the 17,319 registered, are now compliant with the 2020 ADS-B mandate, representing a 22 percent increase over the total a year ago.

 


Among the highest percentages of equipage are light jets such as the Cirrus Vision and the HondaJet, both at 97 percent of their fleet totals;&nbsp;Gulfstream’s G150 and G650 at 93 percent; Cessna’s CJ4 at 92 percent&nbsp;and Latitude at 91 percent; and the Beechcraft King Air 300 at 90 percent.

 


The only models with less than 50 percent equipage rates currently are the Gulfstream III at 43 percent and the Learjet 55 at 49 percent.

 


Business aviation analyst Rolland Vincent expressed some surprise at how much some popular legacy aircraft types are lagging at this point, such as the Citation XL/XLS (69 percent), Bombardier Challenger 300 (81 percent), and the Gulfstream IV (73 percent).&nbsp;He believes some owners will still wait for what they view as a more affordable option before they upgrade, even if that means parking their aircraft. “I don’t see the deadline moving,” he told AIN, adding that it doesn’t mean the end of the line for noncompliant aircraft. “Obviously people who did not meet the deadline are going to be in line to get the work done in the first six or 12 months of 2020, but I think there are going to be a lot of people scratching their heads on January&nbsp;1.”

New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

U.S. Bizav Fleet Reaches 77 Percent ADS-B Equipage

With less than half a year before the FAA mandate takes effect, nearly 4,000 business aircraft have yet to be modified.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Matt Thurber

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.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

New features add MultiScan radar and next-gen capabilities

Collins Announces Upgrades to King Air, Hawker Avionics

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

Main security threat areas include Middle East conflict zones

GPS Spoofing Still a Problem for Aircraft Operators

Recent developments presage some compelling new products

Avionics Advancing Slowly but Surely into the Future

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

A sale of peripheral assets could net up to $12 billion for the aerospace and defense group

Jeppesen and ForeFlight Sale Could Yield $8B For Boeing

Charles Alcock

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

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Collins Announces Upgrades to King Air, Hawker Avionics

New features add MultiScan radar and next-gen capabilities

GPS Spoofing Still a Problem for Aircraft Operators

Main security threat areas include Middle East conflict zones

Avionics Advancing Slowly but Surely into the Future

Recent developments presage some compelling new products

Jeppesen and ForeFlight Sale Could Yield $8B For Boeing

A sale of peripheral assets could net up to $12 billion for the aerospace and defense group

Hermeus Installs Starlink for Beyond-line-of-sight Tests

Start-up is developing a family of hypersonic aircraft using air-breathing propulsion

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Vulnerability to bad actors is a critical aviation issue

Beta’s Electric Airplane Debuts Garmin G3000 Prime Avionics

Garmin introduced the third-generation flight deck last month

Global Aviation STCs ClearVision EFVS in King Airs

Approval enables operators to add head-up display to King Air turboprops

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