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

The Emirates Group experienced what company chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum called one of its most challenging years ever as it saw profits drop by 70 percent for its fiscal year ending March 31. Sheikh Ahmed named new policies affecting travel to the U.S. among several factors that led to the drop in profit to $670 million. He also listed the UK’s so-called Brexit vote, European immigration “challenges” and terrorist attacks, currency devaluation, delays in repatriating funds from parts of Africa and the continued effect of a sluggish oil-and-gas industry on business confidence and travel demand.


Although Sheikh Ahmed did not explicitly point to U.S. president Donald Trump’s efforts to ban citizens from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and African countries or the subsequent ban on large electronic devices in the cabins of aircraft arriving from another list of countries in the region, last month Emirates Airline cut service to five of its 12 U.S. destinations due to traffic declines that resulted from the U.S. policies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


“This is a commercial decision in response to weakened travel demand to U.S.,” Emirates said in an April 19 statement. “The recent actions taken by the U.S. government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins, have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the U.S.”


Nevertheless, Emirates managed to keep its revenue stable at $23.2&nbsp;billion, despite the effect of what it called the relentless rise of the U.S. dollar against currencies in most of its key markets. The U.S. currency fluctuation’s effect on revenue totaled $572 million, said the airline. &nbsp;


In a statement issued Thursday, Sheikh Ahmed warned of further economic turbulence this year. “We remain optimistic for the future of our industry, although we expect the year ahead to remain challenging with hyper competition squeezing airline yields, and volatility in many markets impacting travel flows and demand,” he said.


The company’s $670 million turnover marked the 29th consecutive year of profitable operation, according to the company.


During the last fiscal year Emirates took delivery of 19 new A380s and 16 Boeing 777s. The total of 35 new aircraft marked the highest number it accepted during any financial year in its history. At the same time it moved out 27 aging aircraft, bringing its total fleet count to 259 at the end of March. This fleet rollover involving 62 aircraft marked the largest program it has ever managed in a year, lowering Emirates’ average fleet age to 63 months, compared with 74 months last year.

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