Gregory Polek
Senior Editor
Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with New Jersey Monthly magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for Aviation International News in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.
Latest from Gregory Polek
Regionals Update: Jazz concessions raise anxiety in other sectors
Last month’s ratification of a cost-cutting deal by the 1,400 pilots of Air Canada Jazz could set the country’s regional airline industry on an entirely ne
Rolls-Royce sees rosy future for regional a/c
Along with the commercial and networking benefits the Regional Airline Association Convention offers, the annual event gives showgoers a chance to discuss
Engines
After two decades of study, Pratt’s PW1000G takes flight
Pratt & Whitney passed one of the most important milestones in its long history as the much-heralded PurePower PW1000G took to the skies last month.
Aircraft
ExpressJet To End At-risk Flying
Houston-based ExpressJet and Delta Air Lines will end their code-share relationship effective September 1, and ExpressJet will cease all scheduled flying u
Avionics
China Rolls Out MA600
China’s Xi’an Aircraft (XAC) staged a rollout ceremony on June 29 for an improved version of its 50- to 60-seat MA60 turboprop called the MA600.
Aircraft
Horizon To Speed Retirements
Horizon Air will ground all 12 of its remaining Bombardier Q200 turboprops by October 28 and begin retiring its CRJ700 regional jets next month under a pla
Aircraft
Eagle Details Capacity Cuts
American Eagle will cut its daily schedule by 37 flights at New York La Guardia Airport, 34 flights in Chicago and seven in Boston, close its stations in A
Aircraft
CRJ1000 avoids hiccups in run-up to first flight
As analysts and pundits debated the merits and launch prospects of Bombardier’s C Series airliner, the Canadian manufacturer quietly went about its busines
Mesaba lobbies hard for next batch of Northwest CRJs
Mesaba Airlines has served notice that it no longer wants to play second fiddle to Express Airlines I when Northwest Airlines orchestrates the distribution
Aircraft
Bombardier’s CRJ1000 not just another stretch
Bombardier expects the largest airplane it has ever built–the 100-seat CRJ1000–to take to the skies for the first time this month, on schedule and on budge
Regionals lead charge to industry recovery
For years major airline executives have recognized their regional affiliates’ potential to take a more active role in serving markets that until recently o
Next CRJ700 operator sets sights on April service launch
Atlantic Southeast Airlines accepted its first Bombardier CRJ700 during ceremonies that marked not only the Atlanta-based airline’s baptism as a 70-seat je
Independents hold steady as majors reel from fiscal fallout
While the traffic slump that beset the U.S.
Regionals Update: ATR 42 prop failure draws action from NTSB
The NTSB has recommended that the FAA require inspections of Hamilton Sundstrand 568F propellers in service for more than six years or 11,700 hr, after a p
Regionals Update: Flow-through deal prompts Continental to halt furloughs, revisit spin-off
Continental Airlines last month said it would end all pilot furloughs this year to stem excessive pilot-training costs at its Continental Express subsidiar
Regionals Update: Embraer draws Germany into subsidy squabbles
Heartened by a recent WTO ruling against Canada for its support of Bombardier CRJ sales, Brazil’s Embraer has now turned its attention to its European comp
Regionals Update: BAE settles RJX cancellation terms
Under an agreement reached in late January, BAE Systems will not have to build the 12 Avro RJX quad-jets ordered by Exeter, UK-based British European.
Regionals Update: Bagley leaves Horizon for Alaska Airlines
George Bagley, president and CEO of Horizon Air since 1995, has accepted the position of executive vice president of operations at Alaska Airlines, leaving
Regionals Update: American responds to scope limits with service cuts at Eagle
American Eagle has begun cutting capacity among its Saab 340 and ATR turboprop fleets to comply with a clause in the American Airlines pilot contract that
Safety
American Eagle faces FAA fines for hazmat violations
American Eagle executives planned to meet with FAA officials last month to discuss the Dallas-based airline’s alleged violations of hazardous-materials reg
Regionals feeling the pain of systemwide service cuts
For the first time in recent memory the U.S.
Regional News Update: SkyWest withdraws bid for ExpressJet
SkyWest last month withdrew its offer to buy Houston’s ExpressJet after concluding that a new seven-year capacity purchase agreement entered by ExpressJet
Regional News Update: IslandAir returns EAS award
Hawaiian de Havilland Dash 8 operator IslandAir withdrew from a newly awarded Essential Air Service (EAS) contract to serve four mainland communities from
Regional News Update: Delta seeks break from Pinnacle
Delta Air Lines notified Pinnacle Airlines last month that it intends to dissolve their Delta Connection contract effective July 31.
Accidents
Regional News Update: Bombardier 'regrets' Q400 accident
Bombardier expressed “regrets” about a March 13, 2007, accident involving a Q400 turboprop at Japan’s Kochi Airport after the Japanese Aircraft and Railway
Safety
Safety Board calls on FAA to address pilot fatigue concerns
The NTSB cited three accidents and an incident involving regional airlines as the basis for a pair of recommendations to the FAA related to pilot fatigue l
Aircraft
Airbus claims its place in a new world order
If Airbus COO customers and chief commercial officer John Leahy ever met a paying customer he didn’t like, it certainly wasn’t one of the world’s big aircr
Engines
GTF speeds toward date with the A340
Pratt & Whitney passes one of the most important milestones in its long history as the much-heralded Geared Turbofan engine takes to the skies this month.
Aircraft
Skills shortage blamed for latest A380 setback
In commercial service for nearly nine months now, the Airbus A380 has proven itself perfectly capable of doing what its developers intended it to do–fly lo
EADS undeterred by failure to divest Airbus plants
EADS’s failure to divest itself of major Airbus production sites in both France and Germany as part of its Power8 restructuring plan hasn’t threatened a de
