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

California-based Clay Lacy Aviation has received permission from the Connecticut Airport Authority to expand its East Coast aircraft maintenance, management, and charter facility at Waterbury-Oxford Airport into a full FBO. The company has had a presence at the airport since 2015 when it purchased the former Key Air and occupied its 65,000-sq-ft facility. Last year, the location, which currently employs 50 people, <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-05-29/clay-lacys-oxc-site-gets-part-145-approval">received FAA Part 145 maintenance approval</a>.

 


While the company will continue to use that facility, the airport authority awarded it with a new 30-year lease on another 16-acre plot, on which it will build a new $20 million FBO. The first phase, slated to open in early 2022, will consist of 40,000 sq ft of hangar and terminal space. An additional 120,000 sq ft of hangar, office, and MRO space will be completed in the following years.&nbsp;

 


"The award of this lease is the culmination of a five-year strategic plan to expand our capabilities and support services in the Eastern U.S.," said&nbsp;Clay Lacy president and&nbsp;CEO Brian Kirkdoffer. "We are delighted to partner with the Connecticut Airport Authority to bring new jobs and expanded services to the local economy."

 


It will be Clay Lacy Aviation's third FBO, following its flagship at Van Nuys Airport and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2020-09-17/orange-county-supervisors-award-fbo-leases-sna">recently awarded location at John Wayne-Orange County Airport</a>, which will debut at the beginning of 2021.

New developments at FBOs including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

Clay Lacy To Open East Coast FBO

Clay Lacy Aviation has received permission from the Connecticut Airport Authority to expand its East Coast operations facility into a full FBO.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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.

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