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

Embraer on Saturday issued a firm rebuttal of Boeing’s assertion that it exited its deal to take 80 percent of the Brazilian company’s commercial aircraft business due to “unsatisfied” conditions of the master transaction agreement (MTA). In a statement issued just hours after Boeing announced it had “terminated” the MTA, Embraer said it “believes strongly” that Boeing wrongfully impeded the fulfillment of the contract and manufactured false claims as a pretext to avoid closing the transaction and pay the Brazilian manufacturer the $4.2 billion purchase price.

 


“We believe Boeing has engaged in a systematic pattern of delay and repeated violations of the MTA, because of its unwillingness to complete the transaction in light of its own financial condition and 737 Max and&nbsp;other business and reputational problems,” said Embraer in a statement issued Saturday. “Embraer believes it is in full compliance with its obligations under the MTA and that it has satisfied all conditions required to be accomplished by April 24, 2020.”

 


Embraer added it would pursue “all remedies” against Boeing for damages it claims to have incurred as a result of Boeing’s actions.

 


“Our history of over 50 years is lined with many victories but also some difficult moments,” said Embraer. “All of them were overcome. And that’s exactly what we are going to do again: overcome these challenges with strength and determination.”

 


The MTA stood subject to extension by either party if they met what Boeing called certain conditions. Boeing exercised its rights to terminate after Embraer did not satisfy the necessary conditions, it said without elaborating.

 


"Boeing has worked diligently over more than two years to finalize its transaction with Embraer. Over the past several months, we had productive but ultimately unsuccessful negotiations about unsatisfied MTA conditions. We all aimed to resolve those by the initial termination date, but it didn't happen,” said&nbsp;Marc Allen, president of Embraer Partnership &amp; Group Operations. “It is deeply disappointing. But we have reached a point where continued negotiation within the framework of the MTA is not going to resolve the outstanding issues."

 


The planned partnership between Boeing and Embraer had received unconditional approval from all necessary regulatory authorities, with the exception of the European Commission. Since first launching an in-depth investigation into the transaction in early October last year, the EC has repeatedly invoked a “stop the clock” mechanism meant to give the companies involved time to produce more information pertaining to the merger plan. EC antitrust officials last resumed their review of the plans on April 8 and set a new deadline for completion of their investigation of August 7.

 


In late March Embraer said it expected a further delay in the review process until at least June 23. At the time it made no mention of the April 24 contractual deadline to reach a final agreement, and neither company indicated any sticking points in the talks. However, as Embraer’s stock lost value due to the coronavirus crisis, some analysts suggested that the $4.2 billion purchase price could prove too high for Boeing’s liking.

 


What Boeing called unsatisfied MTA conditions remains a matter for speculation, as neither company would comment on the nature of the repeated requests for more information from the EC since it first launched its investigation last October. What did seem clear, however, was Embraer’s interest in seeing the deal close as soon as possible while potential customers hesitated to pursue E-Jet acquisitions, even before the Covid-19 crisis took hold.&nbsp;&nbsp;

 


“Certain airlines want more visibility on the transaction before they're prepared to move forward with their fleet planning,” Embraer Commercial Aircraft CEO John Slattery told&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in February. “We are hearing increasingly that airlines are getting a little frustrated. They want some surety around what the future is going to look like so they can plan accordingly. So we understand that frustration. We're doing everything we can to get our transaction closed so that we can get back to the day job, which is&nbsp;designing new aircraft, building fine aircraft, and servicing them in the marketplace.”

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