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

An FAA inspector has filed a federal “whistleblower” complaint against his employer, charging the agency with removing him from his field position overseeing the certification of Colgan Air’s Bombardier Q400 operation last year when he raised concerns about pilot flying performance and the airline’s safety culture. 
FAA acting assistant administrator for communications Laura Brown told AIN that the agency assembled a team of outside inspectors in April last year to investigate the claims, and found some procedural and technical problems but no serious regulatory violations. The inspector, Christopher Monteleon, alleges that Colgan pilots flew their airplane too fast with its flaps extended and bungled multiple attempts at landing the Q400 in Charleston, W.Va., among other transgressions.
“The bottom line was we didn’t find any issues that presented regulatory violations,” said Brown, who added that the inspection team found “some issues with the difference between the flight characteristics of the aircraft and the simulator they were using at the time” and recommended “changing the way some of the inspectors made their reports to their supervisors.” 
Later, the agency placed Monteleon on paid leave, reportedly after managers accused him of menacing an FAA attorney. Brown confirmed that Monteleon remained on leave, but said that privacy laws prevented her from discussing the reason.

Colgan Inspector Blows Whistle on FAA

An FAA inspector has filed a federal “whistleblower” complaint against his employer, charging the agency with removing him from his field position overseei

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN