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.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

Jet Aviation has expanded its automated drone and artificial intelligence (AI) aircraft exterior inspection service to its U.S. locations.&nbsp;The General Dynamics subsidiary launched the capability at its MRO facility and global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, in 2023.
Developed in partnership with Donecle, a provider of drone and AI technology for the aviation industry, the process was approved in 2024 by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) for General Visual Inspections (GVIs) by images.
Jet Aviation’s U.S.-based managed and FBO customers can now use the technology to generate digital reports that map the exterior surface of their aircraft, for reference or for use in operational events such as pre-purchase inspections, warranty cases, or insurance claims.&nbsp;It is available for a wide range of business jets and airliners, according to the company.
“Our team is committed to listening to, and working closely with, our customers to grow our regional offering in ways that make a real difference to the owner and operator experience,” said David Best, Jet Aviation’s senior v-p for regional operations and general manager for the Americas. “The drone and AI technology offers our managed and FBO customers additional peace of mind, providing an accurate, comprehensive, digitized report of the exterior of the aircraft for their records now and in the future.”

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.

Jet Aviation Extends Drone and AI Aircraft Inspections to U.S.

The company partnered on the technology in 2023

Jet Aviation is now introducing drone and AI-based aircraft exterior inspections at its U.S. locations.

Jet Aviation Brings Drone Aircraft Inspections to U.S.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Matt Thurber

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.

Repair involves replacement of 700 rivets and a detailed inspection 

DAS and AQRD Partner on Phenom 300 Engine Inlet Fix

Amy Wilder

New 12,000-sq-ft hangar now operational at Akron-Canton

Steiner Aviation Expands Facility for Midsize Jet Mx

Package is available for classic and earlier modified models

Mexico Approves HondaJet APMG S Upgrade Program

Kerry Lynch

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.

Combined entity spans 61 locations across eight countries, including 48 repair facilities and 11 distribution centers

VSE Completes $2B Acquisition of Precision Aviation Group

Inspections involve full nose-to-tail evaluation

Duncan Completes 144-Month Inspections on Two G650s

Authorization expands services for European Embraer Legacy and Praetor operators

Héroux-Devtek Taps Antavia for Landing Gear MRO

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

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.

In this article

Jet Aviation

More In Maintenance and Modifications

DAS and AQRD Partner on Phenom 300 Engine Inlet Fix

Repair involves replacement of 700 rivets and a detailed inspection

Steiner Aviation Expands Facility for Midsize Jet Mx

New 12,000-sq-ft hangar now operational at Akron-Canton

Mexico Approves HondaJet APMG S Upgrade Program

Package is available for classic and earlier modified models

VSE Completes $2B Acquisition of Precision Aviation Group

Combined entity spans 61 locations across eight countries, including 48 repair facilities and 11 distribution centers

Duncan Completes 144-Month Inspections on Two G650s

Inspections involve full nose-to-tail evaluation

Héroux-Devtek Taps Antavia for Landing Gear MRO

Authorization expands services for European Embraer Legacy and Praetor operators

StandardAero Acquires Unified Turbines in Vermont

Acquisition expands turboprop component repair capabilities on key platforms

MAB Engineering Doubles Maintenance Capacity at Subang

Malaysia Airlines’ sister company also provides third-party maintenance

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN