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

ATR has reached an agreement to place as many as 35 ATR 72-600s with Garuda Indonesia, the Franco-Italian turboprop manufacturer announced Tuesday. The deal involves firm orders for 25 airplanes, some of which will come via lease through Denmark’s Nordic Aviation Capital. The parties expect deliveries to start in November and extend over a period of three years. ATR values the deal, including its 10 options, at more than $840 million. 
 
	An ATR spokesman said the companies have yet to decide how many of the airplanes NAC will lease to Garuda, only that it will participate in a portion of the deliveries. He also noted that the contract involves a completely new order, and does not relate to the deal for 90 ATRs NAC signed at June’s Paris Air Show. NAC expects the number of ATRs in its portfolio to grow to 150 airplanes “in the near future.” 
 
	The contract calls for ATR to outfit each airplane with 70 passenger seats as part of its Armonia cabin offering.&nbsp; Garuda plans to use the ATRs to help develop tourism and business activity throughout Indonesia and feed its main hubs in Jakarta, Bali, Makassar and Medan. 
 
	ATR has now collected firm orders for 170 aircraft in Southeast Asia, including order for more than 85 in Indonesia alone since 2008. Delivery schedules show some 100 ATRs operating in Indonesia within the next two years. 
 
	Garuda Indonesia president and CEO Emirsyah Satar said the deal accounts for part of the airline’s “Quantum Leap 2011-2015” transformation and expansion program, aimed especially at broadening the airline’s domestic flight network. The wider project reflects Garuda’s effort to improve its network and service quality ahead of its planned introduction into the SkyTeam global alliance in March and the introduction of the ASEAN Open Sky policy in 2015.



 
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ATR, Garuda, NAC in New Deal Involving Up to 35 ATR 72-600s

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