Story ID: 
AIN Staff Earn Honors
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Two of AIN’s editors recently received industry accolades. 
Word Count: 198
Two of AIN’s editors recently received industry accolades. Editor-in-chief Matt Thurber received the coveted Bill Gunston Technology Writer of the Year Award at the 2021 Aerospace Media Awards, which were presented online once again due to the cancellation of this year’s edition of the Paris Air Show as a result of the continuing Covid pandemic. Thurber’s winning entry was Keeping the Pilot in the Loop on Flight to Autonomy and according to the judges, “His experience as a pilot imbues this and other articles with innate first-person credibility, perspective, and where necessary, judicious skepticism.”

Senior editor Curt Epstein was presented with a Sapphire Pegasus Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism at this year’s Caribavia conference held on St. Maarten in June. Epstein, who has handled the airport and FBO beat at AIN for more than a dozen years was honored for his consistent achievements and his dedication to professional aviation journalism. “We especially recognize his coverage of the region’s business aviation industry and its resiliency in the face of the destructive hurricanes,” commented Cdr. Bud Slabbaert, chairman of the Caribavia conference of the Sapphire Pegasus Awards in the Western Hemisphere.