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

American Eagle in November earned the ignominious distinction of becoming the first airline fined by the DOT for violating the so-called <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/?q=aviation-news/2011-04-20/dot-releases-final-rule-airline-passenger-protections">tarmac delay rule</a>, which took effect in April. The $900,000 fine resulted from several delays resulting from fog, low visibility and thunderstorms around Chicago O’Hare International Airport on May 29. All told, 608 passengers waited for longer than the statutory maximum of three hours on 15 inbound flights.
According to a November 14 DOT consent order, the conditions prompted ATC to institute ground stops, arrival delays and gate holds between 5:20 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. After the airport returned to normal operation, Eagle continued to flights into ORD, even though other airplanes scheduled to depart later in the afternoon and evening occupied all its available gates, forcing the inbound airplanes to hold at various waiting areas. 
In many cases, the airplanes parked at the Eagle gates could not depart due to the lack of crew availability. In fact, many of the same crewmembers scheduled to fly on the outbound airplanes found themselves caught on the parked inbound equipment.

Eagle Earns First Fine for Tarmac Delays

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