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

Following Iran’s missile attacks Tuesday on two U.S.-occupied air bases in Iraq, the FAA issued a Notam preventing U.S. air carriers from overflying Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman. Although the order applies only to U.S. operators, several international airlines have rerouted flights around the region, including Ukraine&nbsp;International Airlines, which saw one of its Boeing 737-800s crash minutes after taking off for a flight to Kiev from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing all 176 people on board.

 


While the crash nearly coincided with the launch of a dozen missiles at U.S. military forces in Iraq by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, no evidence yet exists of a connection between the events.

 


Nevertheless, aviation information service OpsGroup has advised operators to assume that the airplane was shot down until further notice. Images posted on the OpsGroup web site show apparent projectile holes in the fuselage and a wing section. Whether the projectile was an engine part or a missile fragment remains the subject of conjecture but operators should err “on the side of caution,” it said.

 


Middle Eastern airlines that on Wednesday canceled flights to Baghdad include EgyptAir,&nbsp;Emirates Airline, and Flydubai. On Friday,&nbsp;Bahrain-based Gulf Air, Saudi Arabia’s Flynas and Royal Jordanian Airlines&nbsp;canceled all their service to and from&nbsp;Baghdad in reaction to the killing that day of&nbsp;Iranian general Qassem Suleimani by U.S. forces as he was being driven from Baghdad Airport.&nbsp;

 


Other airlines to announce plans to re-route flights around&nbsp;Iranian and Iraqi airspace include Qantas, Air France, and Lufthansa, which also canceled its service to and from Tehran and Erbil.&nbsp;

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

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News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

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News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

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