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

Mitsubishi Aircraft will decide within “a few months” the extent to which a “rescheduling” of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet could affect when the 92-seat MRJ90 first flies, a milestone officially still scheduled to be reached this year. Speaking at the Singapore Air Show, director of marketing Yugo Fukuhara confirmed the delay, but would not offer any details about the reasons.


Apparently, a confluence of events has raised concerns among Mitsubishi Aircraft executives about the program’s progress, but vice president of sales and marketing Hank Iwasa would say only that the airplane’s Pratt &amp; Whitney PW1217G engines do not account for one of the pacing items.


“This is a game-changing regional jet,” said Iwasa. “We are always facing challenges…but I cannot mention specifics.”


Expected to gain certification in 2014, the MRJ90 has drawn commitments from just three customers, including <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2008-03-27/ana-order-launches-mitsubishi-rj">a firm order from Japan’s ANA for 15 airplanes</a> and another firm order from <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2009-10-29/mitsubishi-signs-first-us-customer">Trans States Airlines of the U.S. for 50</a>. ANI Group Holdings of Hong Kong has signed an MOU covering five. That deal, however, could prove more strategically significant than its small size suggests. ANI, in fact, has promised to order twenty 100-seat <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2011-08-31/mitsubishi-delay-launch-mrj100x-beyond-mid-2012">MRJ100Xs</a> if Mitsubishi chooses to launch the project. Mitsubishi continues to study the market for the MRJ100X, a decision on which would come after the MRJ90 flies, said Fukuhara.


Iwasa said the company has entered into various stages of “several good [sales] campaigns,” two of which involve a U.S. and an Asian prospect.


Fukuhara called the planned one-and-a-half-year flight-test period for the MRJ90 “a little conservative” and hinted that the company might, in fact, find some margin within that schedule to help mitigate the delay.


Mitsubishi plans to use three MRJ90 flight-test airplanes, a ground test airplane and a static test example, followed by two flight-test articles for the 78-seat MRJ70, scheduled for certification roughly a year after its larger sibling.


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Mitsubishi MRJ Program To Face Fresh Delay

Mitsubishi to delay MRJ90.

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