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

Mesa Air Group closed its Hawaii-based go! operation on April 1 following some eight years of financial struggles. According to Mesa, the decision stemmed from a desire to concentrate its resources on its now growing mainland operations and minimize its exposure to “at risk” flying. Before the cessation of Hawaiian operations, capacity purchase code-share agreements accounted for 98 percent of the group’s business. 
“While this was an extremely difficult decision to reach, we believe it is in the best interest of Mesa’s long-term strategic objectives, particularly given the company’s ongoing expansion of aircraft in service with United Airlines and US Airways,” said Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein. 
A new contract with United Airlines calls for Mesa to place into service 30 Embraer E175s beginning in June. It also plans to add four more Bombardier CRJ900s for US Airways this year, after placing nine into service last year. 
“With the significant expansion opportunities in flying large regional jets in contracted service, we are redeploying the go! aircraft to support our existing mainland operations,” added Ornstein. “An additional factor that we accounted for was the long-term increase in the cost of fuel, which has more than doubled since go! began service and has caused sustained profitability to be elusive,” he added.

Mesa Closes go!

The decision stemmed from a desire to concentrate its resources on its now growing mainland operations and minimize its exposure to “at risk” flying.

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