Gregory Polek
Senior Editor
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 New Jersey Monthly 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 Aviation International News 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.
Latest from Gregory Polek
Pilot discontent with ALPA spreads among regional ranks
What started as an annoyance three years ago appears to have turned into a legitimate threat to the essence of the Air Line Pilots Association’s long-held
RJ builders react with more layoffs
Brazil’s Embraer said it will lay off 1,800 workers, reduce deliveries this year from 185 to 160 and lower its forecast delivery rate from 205 to 135 next
Alliance’s Robinson dodges a legal bullet
Alliance Aircraft has reached an agreement to settle an outstanding debt with its largest creditor–Rocket Science Computer Services–after a Superior Court
Regionals get short end of government largesse
Hesitant to “look a gift horse in the mouth,” Regional Airline Association president Debby McElroy applauded the Office of Management and Budget’s decision
Route transfers to affiliates stoke flames of legal firestorm
The September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon set the stage for an upheaval in the U.S.
Regionals Update: Continental Postpones ExpressJet IPO
The sagging market valuations of airlines across the U.S.
Regionals Update: Delta Sells SkyWest Stake
Delta Air Lines last month sold its equity position in SkyWest Airlines in a block trade of 6.2 million shares worth $125 million.
Regionals Update: Code-Share Breathes New Life Into Shuttle America
Less than six months after Shuttle America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Windsor Locks, Conn.-based de Havilland Dash 8 operator signed a
Regionals Update: US Airways shuts down Potomac Air
Potomac Air, the wholly owned US Airways Express carrier established in January as part of an asset divestiture plan for the failed merger agreement
Rejuvenated regionals can’t let down guard
By any measure of market share and financial performance, the convalescence of the U.S.
Regulations and Government
RAA attempts to decode mixed signals from feds
RAA director of technical affairs Dave Lotterer knows perhaps as well as anyone that good intentions at the FAA don’t necessarily translate into sound acti
Maintenance and Modifications
Fairchild successor resurrects Metroliner parts business
Operators of Fairchild Metro and Merlin-series turboprops have long relied on a loose amalgam of independent heavy maintenance shops and suppliers to
Grand China Takes First ERJ 145
The Harbin-Embraer Aircraft joint manufacturing venture on September 28 delivered the first of 100 airplanes to its biggest Chinese customer, Hainan Airlin
Maintenance and Modifications
Exeltech flush with New MX work
At a ceremony last month marking the delivery of a newly overhauled Dash 8 to Honolulu-based Island Air, ExelTech announced that it secured C$7 million in
BAE Systems readies first relaunched 146 freighter
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft reports “good progress” with the conversion of the first relaunched BAe 146QT (Quiet Trader) freighter at the program’s Aeros
Aircraft
Antonov, Xi’an To Collaborate on MA700
Ukraine’s Antonov has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xi’an Aircraft (XAC) to help develop a new 70-seat turboprop dubbed the MA700, the Ukrainia
Comair crash survivor files suits
The sole survivor of the crash of Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, Ky., on August 27 last year has sued the FAA, Lexington Blue Grass Airport, chart maker
Hawaiian claims foul play
Hawaiian Airlines claims Mesa Air Group CFO Peter Murnane destroyed evidence that supports its contention that the Phoenix-based carrier used confidential
Lynx caught in FAA snare
Frontier Airlines’ new regional subsidiary, Lynx Aviation, will not start service as scheduled on October 1 due to its failure to meet minimum FAA airworth
Aircraft
Russia puts CRJ900 on ice
Transport Canada and Canadian government officials in Moscow have appealed to Russian authorities to issue certification for the Bombardier CRJ900, two of
Landing-gear actuators focus of Q400 probe
Technical difficulties continued to dog regional airplanes built by a financially resurgent Bombardier last month, as no fewer than 85 Q400 turboprops sat
New Regional Airplanes
Antonov | An-148
The 80-seat Antonov An-148-100 won type approval from Russian and Ukrainian authorities in late February, marking the successful
Transport Canada Issues Q400 AD
An Airworthiness Directive issued by Transport Canada yesterday requires a general visual inspection of the left and right main landing gear system and mai
Landing Gear Collapse Prompts Q400 Grounding
A second incident in three days involving collapsed landing gear on a Scandinavian Airlines Bombardier Q400 has prompted Bombardier to recommend that opera
Antonov and Xi’an Plan “Clean-sheet” 70-seat Turboprop
Ukraine’s Antonov has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xi’an Aircraft Company (XAC) to help develop a new 70-seat turboprop dubbed the MA700, acco
Boeing Delays 787 First Flight
Boeing now estimates that first flight of the 787 will happen sometime between mid-November and mid-December–at least three months later than originally pl
Aircraft
FAA Certifies E195
Embraer gained FAA certification for the E195 last month, more than a year after it won certification for the 110-seat airliner from European and Brazilian
Aircraft
Bombardier Logs CRJ, Q400 Orders
Bombardier continued its deliberate penetration of South and Central America last month with an order from Mexico’s AeroLineas MesoAmericanas (ALMA) for a
Judge Rules Blue Grass Immune
A Fayette County (Kentucky) Circuit Court judge ruled last month that Comair may not sue Lexington Blue Grass Airport for the crash of a Bombardier CRJ200
Mesa Jets Fly above China
Mesa Air Group expected three of its Bombardier CRJ200s to enter service with the newly christened KunPeng Airlines by the end of this month.
