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

Private lift provider Flexjet debuted its new headquarters this morning at Cleveland Cuyahoga County Airport (KCGF). The modern, glass-sheathed $50 million facility now houses the fractional operator’s Global Operations Control Center.
Located just off the ramp, the 51,453-sq-ft structure offers all employees a view of the field through triple-paned, treated glass that both reduces aircraft noise and helps regulate the building’s temperature.

Designed to accommodate future growth, Flexjet's operations control center features the largest seamless LED screen in the U.S., and the third-largest in the world at 176 feet wide by 19 feet high. It tracks the locations of the nearly 270 aircraft in the company’s fleet in real-time. The stadium seating facing the screen is arranged by job type to facilitate the flow of information during situations such as major weather events. In the center of the room is a bridge with a pop-up command station that can be used during peak travel periods.
Home to 670 of the more than 4,000 employees who work for Flexjet and sister Directional Aviation companies, the location offers several conference rooms, the largest of which is named Gulfstream. It features a custom conference table fashioned from the fuselage of the airframer's first GIV to come off the assembly line, an aircraft that Flexjet chairman Kenn Ricci personally piloted.
It also houses Flexjet’s primary data network, which feeds more than 30 satellite locations worldwide and is powered by a complex electrical system with multiple redundancies to ensure operational control is uninterrupted in case of power failure. The construction also included an enclosed connector to the company’s previous headquarters building, which is being retained and renovated.
“From the simplicity of where we started 25 years ago, to the advancements in technology and where we are today, this new global operations center is truly a marvel, and it defines a new future in aviation,” said Ricci. “This facility provides a world-class environment to do the work necessary to continue our ascent as the world’s preeminent private aviation provider.”

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

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