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

The U.S. Senate passed a bill&nbsp;yesterday&nbsp;to extend the charter of the U.S. Ex-Im Bank for another three years and raise its debt ceiling from $100 billion to $140 billion, at least temporarily issuing a reprieve to Boeing and other U.S. aerospace companies that depend on government-backed loan guarantees to sell their products to foreign customers unable to access private markets.


Already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 9, the bill, <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ain-air-transport-perspective/2012-04-16/ex-im-support-competitors-hurts-says-delta-ceo">in an apparent nod to Delta Air Lines</a> and the Air Line Pilots Association, calls for the U.S. Treasury Department to negotiate with other governments toward eliminating state-backed loan guarantees for exports, including widebody aircraft sales.


Notwithstanding its reforms, Boeing—the biggest beneficiary of U.S. Ex-Im Bank guarantees—expressed satisfaction with the compromise. It also drew praise from trade groups such as Airlines for America (A4A), which unsuccessfully sued the Ex-Im Bank&nbsp;last year&nbsp;in an effort to halt a loan guarantee to Air India.&nbsp;


The bill would require the Treasury secretary to issue an annual report on progress of the multilateral negotiations aimed at ending government export loans or guarantees. It would&nbsp;also&nbsp;require the bank to show that, until that time, its support goes only to parties that cannot secure private loans or serves as an offset to competition from foreign export credit agencies. Another provision calls for the Ex-Im Bank to formulate a plan to correct an overall default rate that reaches 2 percent and update Congress on its progress each month.


Passage in the Senate means the bill will arrive on President Obama’s desk for signature before the Ex-Im Bank’s charter expires on May 31 and reaches the current lending ceiling of $100 billion by around the same time. Obama has said that he considers Ex-Im Bank reauthorization vital to his plan to double exports by 2015.&nbsp;


&nbsp;

Senate Votes To Extend Ex-Im Bank Guarantees for Another Three Years

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill extending the charter of the Ex-Im Bank.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN