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

Federal bankruptcy court judge Stephen Mitchell has approved US Airways’ plan to enter into a new operating agreement with Indianapolis-based Republic Airways that calls for the introduction of another 32 regional jets into the US Airways Express system. The ruling gives Republic the catalyst it needs to launch a new nonunionized operating unit separate from its Chautauqua Airlines subsidiary, established specifically to fly the new batch of jets.
Although an airline spokesman declined to comment on any plans for a new operating unit, a spokesman for the local US Airways chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association confirmed that Republic management planned to start the new operation some time during this year’s “second or third quarter.” The move bears a conspicuously close resemblance to Mesa Air Group’s plans for its own nonunion operating unit called Freedom Airlines. Both Mesa’s and Chautauqua’s pilot groups voted not to accept the controversial “Jets for Jobs” provision in US Airways’ collective-bargaining agreement with ALPA, developments that essentially blocked the affiliates from adding more regional jets to their US Airways Express fleets. 
Jets for Jobs requires that the airlines staff at least half of their new RJ positions with furloughed US Airways pilots. Both Republic and Freedom could potentially participate in Jets for Jobs with their nonunionized units, allowing them to continue to expand their US Airways Express fleets. ALPA, however, has filed suit against Mesa in an attempt to block Freedom Airlines from opening. An ALPA spokesman added that the union does not condone Republic’s plan, despite the jobs it could produce for US Airways pilots. The Teamsters–the union that represents Chautauqua’s pilots–at press time had yet to publicly air its position on the matter.

Judge Gives Green Light to US Airways-Republic Plan

Federal bankruptcy court judge Stephen Mitchell has approved US Airways’ plan to enter into a new operating agreement with Indianapolis-based Republic Airw

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