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

Continental Airlines last month said it would end all pilot furloughs this year to stem excessive pilot-training costs at its Continental Express subsidiary. A “flow-through” agreement negotiated in ConEx’s pilot contract in 1998 allows furloughed mainline pilots to bid for positions at the regional airline. 
Continental had previously announced plans to furlough another 100 pilots starting this month, but reconsidered the move when it found that its training costs would negate the potential salary savings. The company projected that the flow of another 100 mainline pilots into ConEx would require another 250 furloughs at the regional carrier. Since September 11 Continental has furloughed 439 mainline pilots, 233 of whom took positions at ConEx, contributing to the furlough of another 386 regional pilots. 
Meanwhile, Continental has revisited plans to sell its stake in Continental Express after it canceled a planned IPO in the aftermath of September 11. A spin-off would retire the flow-through agreement, a consequence that last year drew harsh criticism from ALPA because of its perceived effect on ConEx pilots’ ability to graduate to the mainline.

Regionals Update: Flow-through deal prompts Continental to halt furloughs, revisit spin-off

Continental Airlines last month said it would end all pilot furloughs this year to stem excessive pilot-training costs at its Continental Express subsidiar

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