Gregory Polek
Senior Editor
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 New Jersey Monthly 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 Aviation International News 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.
Latest from Gregory Polek
Aircraft
Biggest Embraer takes flight
The largest member of Embraer’s 170/190 family of single-aisle commercial jets–the 108-seat Embraer 195–took to the air for the first time on December 7 fr
Profits up, departures down in third quarter
Notwithstanding recent complaints of poor operational performance by the nation’s biggest regional airlines, passenger boardings, revenue passenger miles (
Midwest Airlines hires SkyWest as AirTran foil
A new code-share contract signed last month by St.
Mesa lends hand to launch new airline in China
Mesa Air Group will help establish a new Chinese regional airline under a contract it signed in late December with China’s Shenzhen Airlines.
US Airways takes first Embraer E190s
US Airways expects to launch Embraer E190 service from Philadelphia this month, marking the first application of the Brazilian narrowbody in mainline servi
Mediator joins Comair talks, new deadline set
A private mediator joined contract negotiations between Comair and its 1,500 pilots last month as part of a tentative settlement that saw the airline move
Accusations blemish Mesaba bid
Shareholders of Mesaba Airlines parent MAIR Holdings last month accused Northwest Airlines of a conspiracy to suppress the value of its regional affiliate
Aircraft
Republic To Fly E170s for Frontier
Republic Airlines will fly 17 seventy-six-seat Embraer E170s as Frontier Jet Express under a new code-share contract meant to replace and expand service no
Pinnacle Reaches Terms with NWA
A new code-share contract with Northwest Airlines (NWA) will allow Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines to keep its fleet of 124 Bombardier CRJs, potentially fl
Big Sky To Cover Boston
Big Sky Airlines will fly eight 19-seat Beech 1900Ds from Boston starting early in the year’s second quarter under a new code-share contract the Billings,
Aircraft
Delta Chooses CRJ900s
Delta Air Lines last month signed a letter of intent with Bombardier to acquire as many as 60 CRJ900s to deploy with its Delta Connection regional affiliat
Accidents
NTSB: Pinnacle crash exposes cultural, systemic safety flaws
A lack of professionalism, discipline and knowledge exhibited by the two pilots flying the Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 that crashed in Jefferson Ci
Debby McElroy leaves RAA for airports council
Since taking over as president of the Regional Airline Association (RAA) from Walt Coleman six years ago, Debby McElroy has steered the organization toward
Mesa CEO takes aim at Hawaii market
Jonathan Ornstein rarely goes more than a few weeks without making headlines in the aviation press, but the fiery CEO of Mesa Air Group outdid himself last
First officer sole survivor in crash of Comair Flight 5191
At last report Comair first officer James Polehinke still didn’t recall his abrupt and tragic entry into the ranks of this year’s newsmakers.
RAA names McElroy’s successor
Former AOPA and Air Transport Association official Roger Cohen replaced Debby McElroy last month as the president of the Regional Airline Association (RAA)
Accidents
Lexington probe uncovers holes in takeoff regs
Comair’s operating procedures did not include any written guidance specific to runway identification for takeoff before Flight 5191 crashed and burned in a
First Antonov An-148s to debut in Kazakhstan next month
Antonov An-148 launch customer Scat Airlines of Kazakhstan will take its first two airplanes next month, if Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich’s de
Comair pilots authorize strike as standoff approaches climax
The labor crisis at Comair appeared headed for a climax late last month as the Cincinnati-based airline’s management and pilot representatives prepared to
JetBlue curtails four years of E190 deliveries
New York’s JetBlue added a sour note to Embraer’s generally upbeat 2006 marketing campaign when it acknowledged last month that it will decelerate deliveri
Picketing pilots at ASA disturb SkyWest peace
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) pilots on December 15 picketed the company’s newest flight crew base, at Los Angeles International Airport, to protest th
Leaner Island Air joins fare war
Honolulu-based de Havilland Dash 8 operator Island Air suffered the first serious casualty of Mesa Air Group’s incursion into Hawaii last month when CEO Ro
Aircraft
Embraer 195 makes its world airshow debut here
The largest member of Embraer’s E-Jet line of single-aisle airplanes is making its international airshow debut here in Paris, only a week after the Brazili
Aircraft
Honeywell brakes and wheels to go on Air New Zealand’s fleet of 747-400s
Honeywell’s airline support and aftermarket business gained more momentum here Sunday when the Phoenix, Arizona-based company landed a deal to supply Air N
Exostar helps contractors to assure identity
Exostar has come to Paris to promote the new Certipath trusted identity assurance system, a so-called commercial bridge between defense and aeronautics fir
Aircraft
Cimber Aviation adds ATR 72s to cargo conversion
Denmark’s Cimber Aviation Group has won a contract with Avions de Transport Regional to perform E Class cargo conversions for the ATR 72.
Help Wanted: Bosses for Boeing and Airbus
Both Boeing and Airbus have come to the Paris Air Show without permanent leaders.
Nose-to-nose in the subsidy war
The apparent delay in the launch of the Airbus A350 has raised the intrigue over the escalating subsidy row between Boeing and Airbus.
Engines
New P&WC fan picked to power C Series airliner
Pratt & Whitney Canada plans to build a brand-new engine for Bomardier C Series line of single-aisle commercial airliners.
