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

Virgin Australia has entered voluntary administration as the country continues to maintain interstate travel restrictions while improvements in the country’s rate of Covid-19 infection and relatively low number of resulting deaths have yet to translate into a return to flying by a wary public. The decision comes as the group continues to seek financial assistance from state and federal governments along with private parties; however, it said, it has yet to secure the required support.

 


The group’s board of directors has appointed Vaughan Strawbridge, John Greig, Sal Algeri, and Richard Hughes of Deloitte as voluntary administrators of the company and a number of its subsidiaries. Velocity Frequent Flyer, while owned by the group, operates as a separate company and has not entered administration.

 


Virgin Australia will continue to operate its scheduled international and domestic flights for transporting essential workers, maintaining important freight corridors, and repatriating citizens. The group said its current management team, led by CEO Paul Scurrah, will work closely with employees, suppliers, and partners throughout the process.

 


“Our intention is to undertake a process to restructure and refinance the business and bring it out of administration as soon as possible,” said Strawbridge. “We are committed to working with Paul and the Virgin Australia team and are progressing well on some immediate steps. We have commenced a process of seeking interest from parties for participation in the recapitalization of the business and its future, and there have been several expressions of interest so far.”

 


Although ultimately forced into administration by the Covid-19 crisis, Virgin Australia found itself in need of restructuring&nbsp;even before the virus became a pandemic, instituting what it called a significant transformation program to reset its cost base including consolidating the workforce, simplifying the fleet, withdrawing from unprofitable routes, and reviewing and renegotiating supplier agreements.

 


Speaking during a weekly conference call Tuesday, International Air Transport Association chief economist Brian Pearce noted a clear difference in a return to consumer confidence following the decline in Covid-19 infections between China and Australia. Both countries have recovered significantly from the virus itself, but Australia’s citizens continue to show a low level of consumer confidence, he noted.

 


“Businesses in China generally are&nbsp;feeling much more confident than they had been at the depths of the crisis,” said Pearce. “And I think that's an important reason for some of the recovery in domestic markets that we've seen happening in China. But as you can see, the clear reason for the Australia market not recovering is that confidence is&nbsp;still rock bottom in March.”

 


Virgin Australia had controlled some 37 percent of the country’s domestic market before the crisis, noted Pearce, and although he characterized Australia’s air transport sector as resilient and in a strong position in the long term, the airline’s bankruptcy would prove “incredibly disruptive."

 


"This is one of the main reasons why IATA and the airlines are pushing for government support, to try to sustain businesses for the future, for the recovery period,” stressed Pearce.

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

Virgin Australia Enters Voluntary Administration

The International Air Transport Association points to a failure of governments to provide financial support as a reason for Virgin Australia’s insolvency.

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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.

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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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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