After sending reporters back and forth from canceled press conference to canceled press conference, the organizers of this month’s Dubai Air Show clearly appeared as frustrated as the press corps by the shifting messages sent by OEMs and their customers at the Middle East’s preeminent aerospace event. In fact, at one point toward the waning days of show it seemed as though the last-minute contractual wrangling might dash hopes for further big commercial announcements beyond the record-setting 777-300ER order from Emirates and Airbus’s deal with Kuwaiti lessor ALAFCO for 50 A320neos.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Qatar Airways played a significant role in all the chaos, after booking three press conference slots on the first day of the show, only to appear for none of them. Of course, Qatar Airways boss Akbar Al Baker did prove predictable in one sense—by sounding off about one of his major vendors, only to reverse course hours later by placing a $6.4 billion order for 50 A320neos and five A380s. Calling into question Airbus’s ability to build airplanes, Al Baker once again drew attention to himself by disparaging one of the world’s two major airframe manufacturers. You have to hand it to him, though. The man always seems to get what he wants—presumably under terms he finds favorable.
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.
