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

Last month’s ratification of a cost-cutting deal by the 1,400 pilots of Air Canada Jazz could set the country’s regional airline industry on an entirely new course if management succeeds with a reorganization plan centered on a broader scope of operation for the Air Canada regional subsidiary. Although the deal calls for “significant” cost savings through productivity improvements and a new status pay system, it also gives the regional pilots the right to fly Air Canada airplanes certified to carry 75 seats or less. They also won the right to bid against the mainline pilots for aircraft holding up to 110 seats. Although the union representative for Air Canada’s pilots, the Air Canada Pilots Association, called the agreement “unacceptable,” the mainline pilots’ union met a June 1 deadline to reach a tentative deal of its own to avert a court-ordered liquidation of the bankrupt national carrier.
While the deal hardly sat well with Air Canada’s mainline pilots, another perhaps less visible aspect of the airline’s restructuring plan could also spell trouble for third-tier independent airlines flying 19-seat turboprops under contract for the major airline. Under the plan, Air Canada Jazz would return to flying 19-seat turboprops, perhaps as many as 32 Beech 1900s by 2009. Independent airlines Central Mountain Air, Air Labrador and Air Georgian now provide connections for Air Canada under capacity-purchase agreements.

Regionals Update: Jazz concessions raise anxiety in other sectors

Last month’s ratification of a cost-cutting deal by the 1,400 pilots of Air Canada Jazz could set the country’s regional airline industry on an entirely ne

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