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

David Neeleman’s new Breeze Aviation low-fare venture has changed course and entered into an agreement to lease 15 Embraer E190s from Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for a planned scheduled service launch in the U.S. next May.

 


Originally planning to lease E195s from fellow Neeleman-established Brazilian airline Azul and start flying by the end of this year, Breeze instead took advantage of falling lease rates due to the Covid-19 pandemic by signing a new term sheet with NAC. Breeze recently said it would delay its launch from the end of this year to sometime in 2021, but a July 10 filing with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) detailing plans to take over the operating certificate of defunct U.S. regional airline Compass Aviation indicates Breeze expects to finalize lease documentation with NAC on July 31 this year, ahead of first delivery in August. The company expects&nbsp;to take the remaining 14 airplanes over the course of the ensuing eight months.

 


Separately, Breeze and Airbus have agreed to defer delivery of the first of 60 A220-300 narrowbodies by six months until August 2021. Plans call for Airbus to deliver the second in September and then another one per month starting in January 2022. Breeze plans to start operating charter flights this November out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

 


The airline expects its initial scheduled operations to connect the Atlantic Coast, the southern U.S., Texas, and the Midwest. Plans call for Breeze to begin flying an A220 from the Atlantic Coast to California in October 2021.

 


Breeze estimates its capital requirements under the DOT’s financial fitness test will total $61.6 million, representing three months of regular operations at an estimated cost of $21.3 million and pre-operating costs of $40.3 million. So far capital contributions from Neeleman total $15.6 million, while other executives and associates of Neeleman have contributed $4.2 million. Further capital will come from loans and expected equity contributions from a lead investor in the U.S., who has expressed a willingness to commit $25 million, and another three investors who Breeze believes will commit another $20 million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&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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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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