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 FAA has determined that a software glitch—specifically a damaged database file—caused the outage of the agency’s notam system on Wednesday morning, leading to the grounding of all commercial flights in the U.S. for about an hour and a half. The Department of Transportation has launched an investigation and members of Congress have vowed to do the same as they prepare to deliberate over the next FAA Reauthorization bill.
“The FAA is continuing a thorough review to determine the root cause of the Notice to Air Missions (notam) system outage,” said the agency in a statement. “Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyberattack. The FAA is working diligently to further pinpoint the causes of this issue and take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again.”
The outage resulted in thousands of delays and cancellations across the country on January 11, just weeks after a massive winter storm led to several days of travel chaos, most notably at Southwest Airlines, which on its own canceled more than 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31.
The impact of the most recent incident proved broader, as the system saw nearly 11,000 delays and almost 3,000 cancellations within, into, and out of the U.S. by the end of Wednesday, according to data from flight tracking service FlightAware.
In a Twitter posting, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said he had consulted with the FAA over the cause and the best course of action to resolve the situation. “I have directed an after-action process to determine root causes and recommend next steps,” he said.
Of course, Buttigieg and the FAA absorbed condemnation from members of Congress, including perennial Biden Administration critic and Republican House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Sam Graves.
“Just as Southwest’s widespread disruption just a few weeks ago was inexcusable, so too is the DOT’s and FAA’s failure to properly maintain and operate the air traffic control system,” Graves said in a statement released Wednesday. “This incident also underscores the number of empty desks and vacant offices at the FAA. Centuries of combined experience has gone out the door in the past several years and far too few of these positions have been filled. The FAA does not run on autopilot—it needs skilled, dedicated, and permanent leadership in positions across the agency, starting with the administrator’s office. It’s been nearly a year since the FAA has had a permanent administrator, and with the current nominee’s troubling resume, the Biden Administration seems to think this lack of qualified leadership can go on indefinitely.”
For their part, congressional Democrats took a less confrontational posture. “The number one priority is safety,” said Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington. “As the Committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages. The public needs a resilient air transportation system.”

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

FAA Blames Damaged Database File for Notam System Outage

Investigations into the latest air transport system meltdown in the U.S. begin as traffic flows return to normal after a software glitch grounds flights.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

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 and developments about aircraft engines, including turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft and piston.

Evia Aero plans to operate scheduled services in several parts of Europe 

German Airline Plans To Operate Hydrogen-electric Beech 1900s

Hanneke Weitering

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

South Florida operator expects first deliveries in 2027

UrbanLink Orders 20 More Viceroy Electric Seagliders from Regent Craft

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

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.

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.

Carrier could buy up to 200 of the 250-seat Z4 airliner

United Commits to JetZero's Blended-wing-body Airliner

Kaleyesus Bekele

European aerospace group produces narrowbodies in both Canada and the U.S.

Airbus Boosts A220 Output with Mirabel Delivery Center 

Archer’s Launch Edition program marks its second customer

Ethiopian Airlines Plans To Operate Archer’s Midnight eVTOL Air Taxi

Operator plans scheduled services connecting coastal communities

Scottish Seaplane Operator Plans to Add Electric Noemi to Its Fleet

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

Long-haul airline has switched allegiance from Vertical Aerospace to Joby Aviation 

Virgin Atlantic Teams with Joby for UK eVTOL Air Taxi Network

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

More In Airlines