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

A busy news cycle for Boeing climaxed last Tuesday with the company’s first so-called <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2012-03-06/boeing-comac-jointly-fund-emissions-research">collaborative agreement with China’s Comac</a>, under which the would-be rivals agreed to create an aviation energy conservation emissions reduction technology center in Beijing.


Funded by both companies, the Beijing center will support research projects to increase commercial aviation’s fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, under the terms of a contract signed during a ceremony in Beijing by Comac chairman Jin Zhuanglong, Comac president He Dongfeng and Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Jim Albaugh. The manufacturers also agreed to hold annual “leadership engagements” and exchange commercial aviation market forecasts.


“Our new technology center shows that two companies in a competitive industry can partner to make progress on important challenges that cannot be solved by one company alone,” said Albaugh. “That is good for customers and passengers, and it’s the right thing to do.” China and the U.S. rank as the two most prolific emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. 
 
	The companies expect to collaborate with China-based universities and research institutions to expand knowledge of technologies—such as sustainable aviation biofuels and aviation connectivity infrastructure—that improve commercial aviation's energy efficiency or reduce the industry’s carbon emissions.


The deal came a day after Boeing celebrated the start of construction on its new “enhanced” Everett Delivery Center (EDC) with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Boeing employees, customers and local dignitaries.


The new facility will provide three times the office, conference and delivery operations space of the present delivery center. The design includes a delivery lounge and customer complex to accommodate the more than 150 customer representatives that work on-site in the EDC.


Boeing expects the new EDC to open early next year.


Separately, a Boeing spokesman confirmed on Monday that the company has <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2012-03-05/dreamliner-rate-accelerates-35-month">increased the final assembly production rate on the 787 Dreamliner</a> from 2.5 to 3.5 per month in Everett, Wash. The rate increase took effect on March 1.


“Elements of the supply chain are already moving toward subsequent rate breaks in the future,” said the spokesman.


Boeing expects the first airplane built at the 3.5-per-month rate will enter final body join by the middle of this month and roll out of the Everett factory in the second quarter.


The company still plans to reach a rate of 10 per month—seven at its Everett site and three at its plant in Charleston, S.C.—by the end of next year, notwithstanding delays associated with ongoing inspections triggered by signs of delamination of the aft fuselage section on certain airplanes.


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Boeing Breaks Ground Figuratively in China, Literally in Everett as 787 Rate Hits 3.5

Boeing breaks ground in China, Everett.

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