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

Airbus is close to launching a <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/paris-air-show/2011-06-19/paris-2011-sharklets-are-go">Sharklet retrofit program for most A320s</a> now in service, Airbus senior v-p for leasing markets Andy Shankland told a packed audience today at the ISTAT Americas conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. The results of the study, involving the use of the new winglets under development for the A320neo, “look quite positive,” said Shankland, who noted that design work has progressed and continues, and that the market should expect some news on the offering “just a little bit later this year.”


The retrofit would apply to the majority of A320s now in service, noted Shankland, specifically starting at MSN 1200 of the 5,000 airplanes now in service. Airbus expects certification of the option some time in 2014, he added.


Separately, Airbus has increased the list price premium of the A320neo over what it now calls the A320ceo (current engine option) from last year’s $6.2 million to $8.2 million this year, Shankland also noted. The change took effect in January, and resulted from both the robust demand for the product, said Shankland, and extent of the benefits the Neo will offer over the standard A320 due to the increase in fuel costs.


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Airbus Studying Sharklet Retrofit

Sharklet retrofit in the works

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