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
Mattia named president of Messier-Dowty Inc.
Luigi Mattia, a Canadian mathematician with more than 25 years of experience in the aerospace industry, was recently named vice president of the Business a
Forecasts predict boom for bizav
Honeywell Aerospace and Rolls-Royce each expects the world’s business jet OEMs to set a new delivery record next year and establish a strong precedent for
Record ’07 to herald extended bizjet boom
Honeywell Aerospace expects the world’s business jet manufacturers to set a new delivery record next year and establish a strong precedent for a 10-year fo
Aircraft
Embraer 175 Certification Imminent
Embraer expected to win Brazilian certification of its new 78- to 86-seat 175 soon after AIN went to press last month, marking the official introduc
Bombardier dismisses Tellier from top post
After a two-year period that saw Bombardier lay off thousands of aerospace workers, divest itself of aviation and non-aviation assets, close a key service
Air Wisconsin prepares for life outside the United fold
Last month’s decision by United Airlines to cut loose Air Wisconsin Airline Corp.
Air Zimbabwe Buys Two MA 60s
Xi’an Aircraft Factory has landed the first sale of its new Pratt & Whitney Canada-powered MA 60 outside China with Air Zimbabwe’s order for a pair of the
Comair Adds Another Piece to Puzzle
Comair’s flight attendants last month voted to accept a new five-year contract that would pay new cabin crew about 20 percent less than current employees,
Aircraft
SkyWest To Take 20 More CRJ700s
SkyWest Airlines will fly another 20 CRJ700s for United Airlines as part of a deal that saw the St.
Aircraft
Wheelchairs in 50-seaters?
A proposed DOT rule to lower the threshold to require wheelchair availability in Part 121-operated aircraft from 60 to 50 seats has rung alarm bells within
Airports
Some airports heeding calls for cost control
When corporate headquarters in Atlanta called on Comair to fly Bombardier CRJs three times a day from Cincinnati into Missouri’s Springfield-Branson Region
Aircraft
Market for 50-seat jets spirals into a tailspin
Industry developments have conspired to depress the 50-seat jet market to its weakest position since the late 1990s.
RAA’s policy influence cuts across sector lines
Five years as an association president might seem like a modest stint to some, but Debby McElroy has seen enough in her tenure at the RAA to last a lifetim
Continental sees future for turboprops
Apparently done pouring 50-seat jet capacity into a system overflowing with Embraer 145s, Continental Airlines continues to explore the possibility of addi
Aircraft
OEMs see 50-seat RJ market dwindle
Twilight has fallen unceremoniously on the heyday of the 50-seat regional jet, and Bombardier’s October 28 announcement that it would suspend production of
Aircraft
Embraer Revisits Russian Market
A trade accord between Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Russian president Vladimir Putin reached during Lula’s October visit to Moscow cal
Aircraft
ATR Lands another Big Sale
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) placed a firm order for seven new 48-seat ATR 42-500s during a November 2 signing ceremony in Karachi.
New Owner for Regions Air
A Michigan-based company with operations in the Caribbean last month was in the process of buying the assets of Smyrna, Tenn.-based American Connection ope
Mesaba Wins Court Battle
Mesaba Aviation won a motion it filed last month against its fellow Chapter 11 petitioner and mainline partner Northwest Airlines for withholding more serv
Indy Air Latest Bankruptcy Casualty
Independence Air and parent company FLYi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, ending a year-and-a-half-long wait for what many considered
Wrong Fuel Gauge in Doomed ATR
Accident investigators have determined that Tunisian mechanics replaced a faulty fuel gauge in the ATR 72 that crashed off the northeast coast of Sicily on
Aircraft
New Regional Aircraft: East plays catch-up in race for RJ prominence
Antonov: An-148–The only aircraft program ever launched in the former Soviet Union without direct public funding continues its march toward C
Regionals feel bankruptcy pain too
The giant sucking sound generated by the bankruptcies of two of the largest airlines in the U.S.
Safety
Dash 8-300 Hijacking Ends Without Incident
Two men who used grenades to hijack an Aires Colombia de Havilland Dash 8-300 on September 12 surrendered five hours after the standoff began, ending a har
Mesaba follows partner into bankruptcy court
Mesaba Airlines became the latest casualty of Northwest Airlines’ financial meltdown last month, when it followed its sole mainline code-share partner into
Other shoe drops as Comair slashes fleet, workforce
Comair will dispose of as many as 30 regional jets and slash between 600 and 1,000 jobs as part of a plan to cut costs by $70 million a year, the company a
Maintenance and Modifications
Air Wisky To Close Appleton Base
Air Wisconsin Airlines plans to close its Appleton maintenance facility and move its 105 jobs to other facilities by next May.
Aircraft
Chautauqua Transfers Last 170
Indianapolis-based Chautauqua Airlines has transferred the last of its once 23-strong fleet of Embraer 170 jets to its sister carrier, Shuttle America.
Aircraft
SkyWest To Fly 22 More CRJ700s
SkyWest Airlines and Bombardier have agreed to convert a firm order for 18 CRJ200s held by SkyWest’s new Atlantic Southeast Airlines division to positions
