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

Hydrogen-electric powertrain developer ZeroAvia has expanded an agreement that calls for Mitsubishi’s MHI RJ Aviation Group (MHIRJ) to provide engineering services and aircraft integration to support the certification of ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain for retrofit onto regional jet airframes. The agreement announced on May 25 follows a memorandum of understanding signed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-10-26/mitsubishi-and-alaska-air-back-zeroavias-plans-hydrogen-airliners">last October</a> that outlined the MHI subsidiary’s contribution of engineering for certification of the engines to FAA Part 33 rules and advisory services to evaluate the feasibility of a green retrofit program for regional aircraft.
ZeroAvia characterizes as “well advanced” its plans to certify its 600kW ZA600 powertrain for 10- to 20-seat aircraft for entry into service in 2024. The company also has begun work on the ZA2000, a two-&nbsp;to five-MW modular powertrain meant for certification in 40- to 80-seat turboprops by 2026. The ZA2000RJ powertrain will expand that technology to regional jets as early as the late 2020s, said ZeroAvia. 
Canada’s Bombardier has built more than 2,000 CRJ Series aircraft since the program’s launch in 1991. MHIRJ <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-11-05/veteran-airframer-seeks-leading-role-weaning-airliners-fossil-fuel">acquired the program </a>in June 2020, giving it responsibility for CRJ maintenance, engineering, airworthiness certification support, refurbishment, asset management, marketing, and sales activities.
"There are hundreds of CRJ Series aircraft in daily operation across North America, transporting millions of passengers,” said ZeroAvia founder and CEO Val Miftakhov during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “All these flights can and should be zero-emission well before the end of this decade. This agreement is a giant step forward in delivering hydrogen-electric engines to the regional jet segment.”
During the last quarter of 2021, ZeroAvia secured partnerships and funding with Alaska Air Group and United Airlines to accelerate the development of its ZA2000 engine. The announcement with MHIRJ follows ZeroAvia's recent expansion of its Hollister location in California and a deal with Shell for hydrogen supply, as well as the opening of a facility at Paine Field in Washington state in January.

Gregory Polek

A new agreement between ZeroAvia and MHIRJ makes the CRJ regional jets front-running candidates for hydrogen-electric propulsion. (Photo: MHIRJ)

ZeroAvia Advances Hydrogen Regional Jet Plans With Mitsubishi

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