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 and United Airlines on Monday celebrated the delivery of the airline’s first 787 Dreamliner and acceptance of the first of the composite-bodied airliners by a North American customer. Scheduled to fly the airplane to its Houston base “later this week,” United plans to begin a month-long training and certification program including non-commercial flights to each of the airline’s domestic hubs before entering revenue service in the U.S. on November 4 and between Houston and Amsterdam on December 4.


On the same day, Boeing confirmed that <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2012-09-21/ana-orders-more-787-9s">Japan's All Nippon Airlines ordered 11 more Dreamliners in a deal worth $2.7 billion.</a> The follow-on contract for 11 more 787-9s takes the carrier's total commitment to the 787 to 66, including 36 787-8s and 30 787-9s.


The first of 50 Dreamliners on order by United, the airplane carries 36 seats in United’s BusinessFirst section, 72 seats in Economy Plus and 111 seats in standard economy. 
 
	Although United has announced it will initially use the 787 on international routes to Africa, Asia and Europe, it will conduct temporary domestic flights before deploying the fleet on international service late this year.


Although the domestic flights went on sale on United’s website and distribution channels on September 1, the airline won’t announce firm plans for domestic service until later this month. A temporary schedule shows service starting on November 4 from Houston to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Newark. Later in the month, on November 10 and 17, it plans to fly a single flight from Houston to Cleveland and Washington Dulles International Airport, respectively, followed by further service to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as its first temporary service to Denver, on December 5. Its schedule shows Houston-Denver as the only indefinite domestic service, starting March 31.


Plans for international service call for daily flights from Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita International Airport to start on January 3, service five days a week between Houston and Lagos to start January 7, another Amsterdam-Houston service to start on February 4, daily service from Los Angeles to Shanghai on March 30 and flights between Denver and to Tokyo Narita on March 31.


United expects to take delivery of all 50 Dreamliners on order by 2019. Boeing pilots conducted the first production flight of the first United 787, powered by General Electric GEnx-1B engines, on August 19. The aircraft took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., and flew for more than three hours around the Seattle area while crewmembers checked the performance of cabin pressurization, avionics, navigation and communications systems.

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