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.

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Curt Epstein

Universal Aviation, formerly the business aircraft ground-support arm of Universal Weather and Aviation, rebranded as Affinity Aviation on Monday at NBAA-BACE 2026.
A year ago, World Fuel Services parent company World Kinect agreed to <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2025-09-03/world-kinect-makes-major-deal-universal-weather-aviation">purchase</a> Universal Weather and Aviation’s trip-support division. Under the deal that closed late last year, World Kinect acquired one of the most trusted and recognized brands in business aviation, and with more than six decades of experience.
The Evans family, which also owns aviation catering provider Air Culinaire, retained the Universal Aviation chain of international FBOs and ground-handling offices.
“We looked at the three main businesses that we operated, each very successful, each with great brand recognition,” said Greg Evans, managing principal of parent company Evans Home Office. “It simply came down to where are we going to focus? Where do we feel the greatest growth opportunities are?
“It became apparent, really, that we needed to focus on the FBO business and the catering business, and that that's where our real opportunities for the future were. If we continued to hang on to trip support, we were going to have to spread a certain amount of that capital over to trip support, and we felt it was just probably in better hands with somebody else that we thought would be good custodians of it, make the investments in the trip-support space that Universal Trip Support needs and deserves.”
As part of the terms of the sale, the company was obligated to change the name of its FBO chain within three years to avoid confusion.
“[World] spent a lot of money to buy trip support, and if we decided at some point to start getting into the trip-support business again, they didn't want us to have the Universal name, so we agreed that we would sell the name,” Evans told AIN.
At BACE this week, the company is debuting its new identity. “Affinity represents where we are taking this business next,” explained Evans. “We are building on everything that has made this company successful, while pushing ourselves to keep getting better.&nbsp;
“That means continuing to raise the bar on safety and customer experience, investing in our people and operations, strengthening the locations we already serve, developing new capabilities and expanding general aviation infrastructure where our customers need it.”
Among its FBOs, general aviation terminals (GATs), ground-handling offices, and supervisory agents, the company has more than 75 locations in more than 20 countries, with recent expansion in the Middle East and Latin America.
In Saudi Arabia, it recently began <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-09-01/universal-aviation-begins-operations-saudi-arabia">operations</a> at the new GAT in Dammam (OEDF), with facilities in Jeddah (OEJN) and Riyadh (OERK) to follow, along with a centralized local control center. Ahead of the FIFA World Cup this year, the company <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-04-21/universal-aviation-debuts-guadalajara-fbo">opened</a> an FBO at Mexico’s Guadalajara International Airport (MMGL), along with a new facility in Samaná, Dominican Republic (MDCY).
The company will begin a phased transition to the Affinity Aviation name immediately, with the first changes coming to its website, followed by facility signage and uniforms.&nbsp;
“Affinity came from the idea that exceptional ground support is personal. It starts with understanding the mission, knowing what matters to the customer and bringing the right people together to make everything work,” said Sarah Evans, principal of Evans Family Office. “We wanted to create a brand that feels true to the company people already know, but also sets a clear expectation for where we are going—more connected, more personal, and always looking for ways to make the experience better.”
To emphasize that theme, the company’s new logo shows a private jet supported by a white-gloved hand, evoking the level of care and professionalism it aims to provide customers. Its purple color is a mix of the former Universal’s red and blue branding colors.

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