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

Boeing secured the largest single order in its history this week, in both&nbsp;dollar value and number of units, when Southwest Airlines signed a contract covering 150 of the new <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/?q=aviation-news/dubai-air-show/2011-11-13/boeing-takes-minimalist-approach-737-max">737 MAX</a> and 58 Next Generation 737s, the companies announced today.


Worth nearly $19 billion at list prices, the firm order supports the Dallas-based airline’s initiative to modernize the world’s single largest 737 fleet. As the official 737 MAX launch customer, Southwest expects to take the first of its CFM Leap-1B-powered narrowbodies in 2017.


The new orders augment Southwest’s existing firm order book of 142, raising the number of Boeing airplanes on which it holds firm orders to 350. Delivery schedules call for Southwest to receive all the airplanes over the next 10 years.


The firm orders for 58 new 737NGs include the conversion of previously reserved options on 25 airplanes. Southwest has substituted 737-800s for all 737-700NG deliveries scheduled for 2012 and 2013 as well some of the airplanes due for delivery in 2014. For the 737 MAX order, Southwest reserves the option to accept MAX 7 or MAX 8 deliveries. The revised order book also includes options on seventy-eight 737NGs and 150 MAXs, bringing total option positions from 2014 through 2027 to 242.


The 737 MAX has now attracted firm orders and “commitments” for more than 900 airplanes from 13 customers, according to Boeing, while the 737NG family has won orders for more than 6,600 airplanes, more than 3,800 of which Boeing has delivered.



 
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Boeing Logs Historic Sale with Southwest $19 Billion Order 

Southwest orders 737 MAXs.

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