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&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;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&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;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.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Sagging operational and financial fortunes at Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Great Lakes Aviation have prompted Tennenbaum &amp; Co. to withdraw its offer to buy the former United Express affiliate’s outstanding shares of common stock for $4 a share. In a letter to Great Lakes’ board, Tennenbaum suggested a merger of the Frontier Airlines code-share partner with another turboprop operation to increase its attractiveness to potential investors. “We continue to believe that a consolidation of businesses like yours, with appropriate arrangements with aircraft manufacturers, major airlines and government agencies, would be a business that is attractive to us,” said the letter. “We are prepared to initiate such a dialogue.” 
Last month Great Lakes announced it generated revenues of $26.9 million in the second quarter of 2001, down 20.8 percent from the same period a year ago. As a result, the company absorbed a net loss of $5.1 million.
Great Lakes attributed the drop in revenues to a 14.8-percent reduction in available seat miles resulting from schedule adjustments “to more closely align capacity with current passenger demand and fare structures.” Although the load factor for the second quarter rose 2.7 points, to 52.5 percent from last year’s second quarter, average ticket prices fell from $104.87 to $91.39.
“The decline in ticket prices is primarily the result of the significant downturn in the economy and resulting decisions by companies to reduce costs by cutting back on business travel and using cheaper fares whenever possible,” said Great Lakes president and CEO Doug Voss. “In addition, the airline industry and its computerized yield management systems have expanded the availability of discounted seats.”

Tennenbaum Withdraws Offer for Great Lakes

Sagging operational and financial fortunes at Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Great Lakes Aviation have prompted Tennenbaum &amp; Co.

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