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

What Airbus characterizes as “challenges” involving the ramp-up of its A321neo Cabin Flex (ACF) option have&nbsp;left JetBlue “very disappointed” in resulting delivery delays that forced the New York-based airline to adjust its schedules in 2020 to reflect 2 percent lower capacity growth than originally planned. Speaking during the airline’s second-quarter earnings call with securities analysts, JetBlue CFO Steve Priest reported that of 13 A321neos expected to arrive this year, the airline would take just six. For 2020, a revised schedule now calls for delivery of 14 A321neos rather than 15, leaving JetBlue with seven fewer of the model at the end of 2020 than projected during last October’s Investor Day.

 


“On a macro level, we are very disappointed with the continued delays to our Airbus A321neo program as a result of the Airbus production issues, including a further delay that we’ve received in the last week and a half,” said Priest. “The good news is that we’ve been working exclusively with Airbus to work through these production challenges and getting an understanding of what they are and working as a team. And I’m also pleased to say that having gotten an early heads-up in terms of where these deliveries are, we remain on track with our cost commitments in 2019 as we’ve taken some tactical opportunities to tweak the restyling program to manage the capacity challenge.”

 


JetBlue’s restyling program began last year with the introduction of new Collins Pinnacle seats and IFE enhancements in its A320s. Progress with a second phase of the program featuring the installation of 18.4-inch-wide Collins Meridian seats has slowed, however, as JetBlue opts to keep more A320s out of the refurbishment shop and in service to compensate for the shortfall in A321neo deliveries.

 


To offer a sense of the magnitude of the effect of the expected 2 percent capacity shortfall resulting from the A321neo delays next year, Priest reported that JetBlue thought its ASM increase would fall in the high end of a mid- to high-single-digit rise forecast during last year’s Investor Day. Instead, he said, expectations now call for ASMs to increase to only a bit less than the midpoint of that range.

 


However, JetBlue does not expect the A321neo delays to affect the planned launch of its transatlantic services in 2021, according to the airline’s CEO, Robin Hayes.

 


For its part, Airbus said it expects&nbsp;to meet its delivery goal of 880 to 890 aircraft, including a “significant number” of ACFs in the second half of this year. Asked to explain the delivery shortfall at JetBlue, an Airbus spokesman said the manufacturer does not talk about deliveries to individual customers. “We mentioned...back in May that 2019 is the year for ramp up of ACF Heads of Version and that we would [continue increasing] deliveries in 2019 even though challenges remain,” he explained.

 


First delivered to Turkish Airlines about a year ago, the A321neo ACF encompasses modifications including a new rear section and a modification in which designers removed the door located forward of the wing and introduced new overwing emergency exits in the center section. Airbus plans to make the Cabin Flex configuration standard for all A321neos some time next year.&nbsp;

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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