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.

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Gregory Polek

UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS, Hall 3AS6-7) comes to Farnborough with a series of commercial success stories, led by news of a new long-term maintenance agreement with Airbus. Under the deal, UTAS becomes a primary maintenance service provider for Airbus’ Flight Hour Services (FHS) and component repair support. The contract covers UTC Aerospace Systems components on all Airbus platforms.
Airbus will send FHS-covered components requiring repair to UTC Aerospace Systems’ global network of maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities. The scope of products covered under the agreement includes air-management systems, electric systems, sensors, evacuation slides, seating, cargo, lighting systems, actuation systems, propellers, landing gear systems, fire systems and engine components.
In addition to MRO services, UTAS will provide technical services and support at various UTC Aerospace Systems MRO sites. The company operates 60 such sites around the world.
In another Airbus-related development, UTAS (also exhibiting at Farnborough in Outside Exhibit Areas 3 &amp; 4) received FAA supplemental type certification for its new tablet-based electronic flight bag (EFB) on the Airbus A320 series. The system allows tablet devices, such as an iPad, to display important flight information.
News of EFB certification on Airbus narrowbodies came as UTAS’ aerostructures business on Sunday celebrated delivery its 10,000th set of inlet and fan cowls for a Next-Generation 737 to Boeing. Delivered from their final assembly site at UTAS Aerostructures in Foley, Alabama, the nacelle components will be installed on a CFM56-7 engine. The Aerostructures business began producing inlet and fan cowls for the 737 in 1995.
More business on Boeing narrowbodies for UTAS takes the form of a new deal to supply wheels and carbon brakes for all models of the Boeing 737 MAX. Under the contract, UTAS will provide the equipment through its Landing Systems facility in Troy, Ohio. The carbon brakes use proprietary Duracarb carbon heat sink material already in service on more than 3,100 aircraft. UTAS claims the product provides a 35-percent brake life advantage over competitive products.
In the military realm, UTAS announced a new contract with the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the entire fleet of SYERS-2 imaging sensors to the latest SYERS-2C variant.
The upgrade to the SYERS-2C configuration features the latest in multi-spectral technology and increases the spectral resolution and image interpretability beyond that of the baseline system, which already provides the longest range on the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS), further extending the NIIRS range of the U.S. Department of Defense’s airborne intelligence surveillance reconnaissance inventory.
UTAS works with multiple OEMs and focuses on keeping them satisfied with its performance. Gail Baker, the group’s vice president for aerospace customers and business development, told AIN that this process begins with its “voice of the customer” program through which UTAS works with manufacturers to define what their needs are in terms of equipment.
To ensure that performance stays on track, Baker’s team uses scorecards that ask the OEMs to rate UTAS’ contributions in areas such as on-time delivery. In situations where the customer’s needs are not being met, UTAS can assign a specialist team to correct any problems.

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