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 and Boeing each added substantial volumes of units to their commercial aircraft order books on Monday, as the rivals announced sales worth a total of $5.57 billion at list prices. Airbus’s deal involved a conversion of options on 27 A320neo-family narrowbodies to firm orders for 23 A320neos and four A321neos by Lufthansa Group, while Boeing collected a firm order for nine 787-9s from United Airlines.

 


Lufthansa’s plan for its new Neos will see 10 of the airplanes deployed by its wholly owned Swiss International subsidiary. The order calls for CFM Leap-1As and Pratt &amp; Whitney PW1100Gs to share the powerplant duties, reflecting Lufthansa’s decision to split the two engine types among its group-wide Airbus narrowbody fleet. The latest agreement brings Lufthansa Group’s order total for the A320neo family to 149 (101 A320neos and 48 A321neos), 13 of which Airbus has already delivered.

 


United Airlines, meanwhile, said its 787-9s order reflects its strategy to replace older widebodies. The U.S. airline, which announced a purchase of four 787-9s in July, now has ordered a total of 64 Dreamliners.

 


United began flying the Dreamliner in 2012, when it started deploying the 787-8 and 787-9 on intercontinental routes such as Houston to Sydney and San Francisco to Singapore.

 


Later this year, the carrier plans to take delivery of the largest member of the Dreamliner family, the 787-10. United on Monday announced plans to debut its first 787-10 on premium transcontinental routes in the U.S., boosting its coast-to-coast schedules to offer passengers traveling between New York/Newark and Los Angeles and San Francisco&nbsp;more flights and more premium seats.

 


For Boeing, the latest deal increases the Dreamliner net order count to above 100 for the year and just one shy of 1,400 since the start of the program. For Airbus, the Lufthansa contract raises its A320neo order total to some 6,100 copies from more than 100 customers.

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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